Court puts onus on doctors to warn patients about HIV status. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Court puts onus on doctors to warn patients about HIV status. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023.

AIDS Policy Law. 1995 Mar 24;10(5):3-4. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE AIDS/95700234

Abstract: Associate Justice Miriam A. Vogel, in a California appeals court, stated that doctors have an obligation to tell infected patients that they have a contagious disease so that patients and people around them can avoid spreading the illness. A decade ago, physician Eric Fonklesrud of the University of California (UCLA) Medical Center, operated on 12-year-old Jennifer Lawson and did not tell her or her parents that he had discovered that her blood transfusion was contaminated with HIV. Years later, Lawson, unaware she was HIV-positive, had sex with her boyfriend Daniel Reisner, and infected him. Consequently, Reisner filed suit against Fonklesrud and UCLA for damages. Before the suit reached trial, the judge dismissed Reisner's complaint; however, the appeals court concluded otherwise. The appeals court also rejected the defense's argument that the physician's first duty is to his patient, not unidentified third parties. According to the court, California case law obligates the doctor to provide warnings.

Keywords: Blood Transfusion HIV Infections/TRANSMISSION *HIV Seropositivity *Liability, Legal Physician-Patient Relations *Physicians NEWSLETTER ARTICLE
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