Uninfected patient can't win damages from doctor with AIDS. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Uninfected patient can't win damages from doctor with AIDS. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023.

AIDS Policy Law. 1995 Apr 7;10(6):3-4. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE AIDS/95700284

Abstract: The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that damages cannot be awarded to a woman who claimed emotional distress after learning her doctor was HIV-positive. The doctor was allowed to continue practicing medicine as long as he took certain precautions and stopped performing surgery, with which he complied. When presented with the zone of danger argument, the court said that actual physical contact is not necessary to sustain a claim for emotional distress damages. However, the court said that the plaintiff was never in any imminent peril, citing the numerous resource materials about how HIV is spread. It also was determined that the doctor's conduct did not significantly increase the chance of the patient becoming infected, and he had no obligation to disclose that he was HIV-positive. This determination rendered void the plaintiff's ability to sue through the State's Consumer Fraud Act.
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/PSYCHOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient Gloves, Protective Human Jurisprudence Minnesota Risk Factors Stress, Psychological NEWSLETTER ARTICLEKWDacquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome/psychology/KWDtransmissiondiseasetransmission,professional-to-patientgloves,protectivehumanjurisprudenceminnesotariskfactorsstress,psychologicalnewsletterarticle
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Copyright © 1995 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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