Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune (CT) - SUNDAY July 10, 1988 Edition: FINAL EDITION Section: EDITORIAL Page: 2 Word Count: 435
The new legislation says any patient who consents to medical treatment can be tested for AIDS if, in the physician's judgment, it is necessary for proper diagnosis and treatment. If Gov. Thompson signs the bill, a patient's specific, written permission would no longer be needed before an AIDS test can be done, as is now required by a law passed last year. The new provision would simply treat a blood test for AIDS like other tests that a physician orders but is not required to detail for a patient or get his written consent for. Other provisions to ensure the confidentiality of test results still would be in force.
Opponents of the measure raise alarms about violations of patients' rights and fear physicians would no longer give patients the counseling about AIDS that under current law must accompany testing. They also worry that those who do not want their blood tested for the AIDS virus would refuse to seek needed medical treatment. But explaining the meaning of significant test results is surely part of good medical practice, with or without the legal requirement to do so.
Many people are unaware that they are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A nationwide study of blood samples drawn from patients hospitalized for other conditions and tested without identification shows 3.1 per 1,000 of them are infected with HIV. It is important to identify individuals carrying HIV so they can be counseled about not spreading the infection further and so symptoms of the disease can be caught and treated as early as possible. Studies are underway now to test out the hope that drugs such as AZT can prevent-or at least delay-an HIV infection from progressing to full-blown AIDS. That's another reason for expanded testing.
The new legislation also authorizes health care workers, paramedics and others who are accidentally exposed to a patient's bodily fluids in a way that could transmit HIV to have the patient tested for the virus and be told the result. Several health care workers have become infected on the job. This would at least give those at risk more information-and in most cases, prevent months of worry about getting AIDS.
Gov. Thompson should sign the legislation into law.
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