Essay on Aids And Confidentiality

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Black Rebellions, An Un Achievable Goal For Slaves In The South
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Black Segragation
Imagine being separated from all society because of the color of your skin. Would you think that this separation is fair? Definitely not. Down south in the old days, blacks were segregated this way. They were segregated in many ways. We could categorize those ways into four main categories, social

AIDS and Confidentiality

Does an AIDS patient have rights to FULL confidentiality? Meaning being does an AIDS patient have the right to deny this information to their spouse and/or sexual partner? Even greater, does a physician have an obligation to inform the partner? A lot of controversy is currently occurring due to this topic.

In a recent case, Mr. B., a twenty-eight year old prominent member of the city council was recently tested positive for HIV antibodies (the virus that causes AIDS). He currently has no symptoms, so it is not yet obvious to anyone but him and his doctor that he is infected. He was informed that he had between a five and thirty-five percent chance of developing AIDS in the next five years. Mr. B. was told that it was very possible to spread this disease through sexual contact, needles, or donating blood - among various other methods. He was counseled to take preventative measures from spreading the virus.

Later, Mr. B. revealed that he was bisexual and that he probably contacted the virus through a homosexual encounter. He is also engaged (to a woman). He then refused to tell his fianc e because it could ruin his marriage plans.

Our ethical dilemma is this: Should the doctor inform the fianc e? Should he protect the doctor/patient confidentiality? What if Mr. B. had an affair with the physician s daughter. Should he break the privilege then? What about the other sexual partners Mr. B. has had sex with? Ho far should confidentiality be taken in this case? IF confidentiality is a prima facie duty, what would constitute the overriding of confidentiality?

First off, the most important question is whether or not this is a prima facie situation. My answer is yes. There are certain cases (which are the majority) where the patient should be granted full confidentiality. Patients could lose jobs, face public outcast, and become the subject of strong prejudice if certain people knew about their situation. Obviously, it isn t the business of the person down the street if they have no contact with one another.

This happens to be one of those cases where the overriding of confidentiality should be undertaken. As a doctor, the physician has an obligation to protect the health of the people if possible. He knows Mr. B. has no intention of telling his fianc e of his situation, putting her at great risk especially if they decide to have a family (in which even more people, being the children, would be...