"AIDS and a Hospital's Responsibilities"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"AIDS and a Hospital's Responsibilities"

Baltimore Sun (12/14/90), P. 21A
Heyssel, Robert M., and Moses, Hamilton II

Abstract: AIDS is the enemy in the story of the Johns Hopkins Hospital surgeon who succumbed recently to the disease, write Robert M. Heyssel and Hamilton Moses III, the hospital's president for medical affairs and vice president, respectively. Throughout the AIDS epidemic, Heyssel and Moses write, Hopkins has worked hard to care for patients, learn more about the disease, and take responsible positions that balance the needs and expectations of patients with those of the hospital's staff. The issues surrounding AIDS and hospitals, they write, include: incomplete information about the low risk of doctor-to-patient transmission; patients who expect no risk at all; and AIDS policies that are highly political and often contradictory. Also at issue, they write, is the next step. The Centers for Disease Control needs to update its vague guidelines, Heyssel and Moses write, and the media and the public should support Johns Hopkins as it attempts to make difficult decisions, not attack the hospital and drain its funds with lawsuits.

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