Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald (MH) - Tuesday, July 9, 1991
David Zeman; Herald Staff Writer
"Once someone is reported as a carrier, the patient should be notified," Chiles said at a brief evening news conference before boarding a flight to Tallahassee.
Chiles called the meeting with Bergalis and her family "a personal visit" and said that his time with the 23-year-old woman was "almost like being in the presence of a saint."
Bergalis contracted AIDS during one of six visits to the office of Stuart dentist David Acer, according to the national Centers for Disease Control. The CDC believes Acer also transmitted the virus to four other former patients, none of whom has full-blown AIDS, though how they were infected remains a mystery.
The governor said he had not decided whether to support a law requiring AIDS testing for health care workers, saying he needed to study the matter further.
"I want to know a lot more about what the pluses and minuses are . . . on the best steps to protect the public," he said.
His 15 minute visit heartened the University of Florida grad, who lies close to death at her home, said her father, George Bergalis. "She couldn't say anything back, but she was elated."
He said Chiles did not discuss his position on the family's plea for mandatory testing of health care workers and full disclosure between doctors and patients.
"No, and we didn't ask," George Bergalis said. "We felt they were coming here as a mother and father -- not as the governor -- and were sincerely concerned about what happened to Kim."
Chiles' press release announcing his visit surprised Bergalis' attorney, Bob Montgomery, who was told Chiles wanted to keep the meeting private.
Montgomery has lambasted state lawmakers for allowing Acer, who died in September, to keep his HIV status a secret while he continued to practice. The Bergalis family has called for mandatory testing of health care workers and full disclosure between doctors and patients.
"I've been terribly disappointed in the inaction of the Legislature," said Montgomery. "But I'm just tickled pink Gov. Chiles will be seeing her on a first-hand basis to see the horror of this disease."
William G. "Doc" Myers, R-Hobe Sound, said Monday that Chiles supported recent changes in the state's health care laws that allowed state medical boards to establish rules for practitioners who have AIDS and also made it easier for health care workers to test the HIV status of patients.
Myers, who supports Bergalis' crusade for mandatory measures, said the governor has not specifically taken a stand on mandatory AIDS testing for health care workers or full disclosure between doctors and patients.
In April, however, Chiles said he favored legislation requiring HIV-infected health care workers to notify state regulators. "We feel like this is the first step you ought to take," he said then.
Chiles' comments followed the announcement of a Palm Beach County orthodontist that he had been diagnosed with AIDS. Chiles said then that he had not decided whether that disclosure should also extend to patients.
"Hopefully, he's going to listen to voices of reason rather than relying on emotion," said Jeff Peters, president of the Florida AIDS Legal Defense and Education Fund, a group that opposes mandatory measures.
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