"AIDS Testing of Doctors Is Crux of Thorny Debate"

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

"AIDS Testing of Doctors Is Crux of Thorny Debate"

New York Times (12/27/90), P. A1
Altman, Lawrence K.

Abstract: Vigorous debate among health care workers, AIDS activists, and policy-makers now centers on mandatory testing of health-care workers for HIV, particularly those who perform invasive procedures, such as surgeons and dentists. Although the risk of practitioner-to-patient HIV transmission is extremely remote, the recently documented case of a possible dentist-to-patient transmission in Florida and the case of a Johns Hopkins surgeon who died of AIDS have spurred calls for new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Critics say the old guidelines, which allow local hospitals to restrict workers on a by-case basis, are too difficult to interpret. The CDC must decide whether to test workers, and if so, who should be tested, when, and how often. Critics of mandatory testing say it would cost too much, violate workers' right to privacy, and possibly ruin careers, and that it might lead to testing of patients. The CDC should issue the new guidelines for public comment in several weeks.

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