Miami Herald (MH) - Sunday, August 18, 1991
Sue Reisinger; Broward Managing Editor

It was the kind of story you almost hate to print, but you know you have to.

Hallandale rescue worker Jon Gauthier died of AIDS in July, after winning his battle with the city for an increased pension that will be paid to his family for 10 years. He had argued that he contracted AIDS while on the job treating AIDS patients.

So why did The Miami Herald in its article Monday have to dredge it all up again, raising questions about his sexual past and about whether he truly contracted AIDS on the job? Why did we have to put his family through that?

Because all involved here -- health-care workers, government officials, friends and family, as well as the taxpayers -- have a right to know the facts.

Gauthier had cited three known AIDS patients that he had treated, and said he was exposed to their body fluids. "For over 19 1/2 years, I've had my hands in feces, urine, vomit, spit," he said. "You name the excrement that can come out of your body, and I've had my hands in it."

But so have many rescue workers across America. Still, the Centers for Disease Control has reported no documented case of on-the-job HIV transmission to emergency medical personnel.

The Monday article explained that The Herald had obtained legal working papers not previously released that show Gauthier had a history of syphilis, gonorrhea and genital lesions during a time period consistent with when he could have been infected with AIDS. People with sexually transmitted diseases are known to be at high risk for contracting AIDS.

The only doctor to testify before the five-member pension board could not say how or when Gauthier was infected. And no state or federal agency ever investigated how Gauthier got AIDS. That meant the pension board had to decide without conclusive medical evidence.

Two board members representing the police and fire departments voted for the pension; two former city officials voted no. That left it up to accountant Alan Miller.

Gauthier sat before them in a wheelchair, his dying wish to set a legal precedent for his fellow firefighters and to win this pension for his family.

Alan Miller voted yes. I am not saying his vote was wrong. If I were sitting in his place today, I might well vote the same way, despite the facts revealed in The Herald article.

"From the standpoint of humanity," Miller said later, "you had to have some sympathy . . ." So it was a political decision, yes; it was also one of conscience.

But it was not a medical one.

None of this is meant to take away from the courage of Jon Gauthier, who I suspect fervently believed that he contracted AIDS on the job and marched bravely into the public arena knowing that these painful personal facts could come out.

Then why did we run the story? We did it for those who must deal with these issues in the future.

* For the voters: They pay the pensions and the firefighters, and they need to let their elected representatives know how they want such a situation handled next time.

* For state legislators: They, without medical evidence, plan to reintroduce a Gauthier bill that says rescue workers with infectious diseases will be presumed to have contracted the disease on the job. If passed, the law would make any city financially liable unless it could prove otherwise.

* For people with AIDS and their families: They have a right to the best possible treatment from health-care workers, who should not be filled with fear caused by the myths, the hysteria and the inaccurate information swirling about AIDS.

Yes, for people with AIDS and their families. Let us not forget: That group included Jon Gauthier and his loved ones.

*

Sue Reisinger is The Herald's Broward managing editor.

CAPTION: PHOTO Jon Gauthier (b)
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