Miami Herald (MH) - Thursday, July 25, 1991
Patrick May; Herald Staff Writer

"The risk of transmission is small, very small," said Dr. John J. Witte, assistant state health officer for disease control and AIDS prevention. "But it's not zero."

Speaking before a packed press conference at the Dade County health department, Witte called upon patients who had seen White "within the past several years" to call HRS for free testing and counseling. He predicted test results would be ready within 72 hours. He also said the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services would soon send notification letters to each of White's patients.

Those interested in setting up an appointment with the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services were asked to call 325-1234.

Kevin O'Connor, a Miami attorney representing White's family, said patients with questions about transferring to other dentists, or obtaining medical and insurance records, can call his office at 445-4090.

White was a Miami dentist for 32 years before leaving his Edison Center practice four months ago. He has dementia and is dying in the Hospice at North Shore Medical Center. By early Wednesday, family and friends of the dentist had helped O'Connor assemble a list of 185 people White had seen in 1991. O'Connor said he expected further combing of the records to turn up "several thousand" patients who had seen White over the years.

Witte said 119 patients had already been tested by HRS as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. Florida's confidentiality laws greatly restrict the amount of information that can released on HIV-positive health workers and their patients, but Witte promised to at least generically publicize test results once the patients involved have been notified.

"It would not be unusual," he said, "to find some individuals who'll test positive simply because of the prevalence of HIV in the community." But he stressed that such results may "not be related in any way to the dentist." He said any positive results would be sent to the Centers for Disease Control lab in Atlanta for further DNA testing "to see if the gene sequence can be matched to blood drawn from Dr. White."

Word of White's illness has spread quickly through the community. Many of the neighbors near White's now-defunct office at 4800 NW Seventh Ave. knew the dentist and some had gone to him for years.

"The last time I saw him was in '89 when he pulled one of my teeth that had a cavity," said Subrina Bridges, 21, who lives down the street. "He was a nice man. I paid him $35 and I haven't had a problem since."

Bridges said that because she previously had been tested for AIDS as part of her normal prenatal care program she was "not too concerned" when she learned her dentist had contracted the virus. "I didn't really pay it any mind," she said.
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