Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Friday, December 7, 1990
Guidelines approved Wednesday by the AMA's House of Delegates recommend reporting of positive test results for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, to state and local public health officials in all 50 states.
Florida law only permits the reporting of full-blown cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Terrence McCoy, a Tallahassee doctor who sits on Florida's Committee on AIDS, said he hoped the measure approved during the AMA delegates' four-day convention in Orlando would spur a change in the Florida law.
"I think it's essential to have adequate data in order to take control of this devastating disease," McCoy said. "And that data necessitates the reporting of seropositive individuals."
Seropositive people have tested positive for HIV and would be expected eventually to develop the life-threatening opportunistic infections associated with AIDS.
Researchers argued they cannot track the spread of the disease and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta cannot keep tabs on the number of infected people if states like Florida continue to prohibit the reporting of HIV test results.
McCoy said that early detection is crucial to the treatment of any disease, including AIDS, for which there is no known cure.
The delegates also voted to support efforts to restrict HIV transmission among prison inmates by offering them condoms, but they delayed a decision on a proposal to let doctors perform unrestricted HIV testing on their patients.
Current Florida law permits HIV tests to be performed only with the informed consent of the patient.
The delegates delayed a vote on whether to support legislation to take away for one year the driver license of any person under 21 caught driving after drinking alcohol.
But they did vote to support a ban on tobacco sales at Veterans Administration hospitals, where smoking is already banned.
They also supported guidelines prohibiting doctors from having sexual or romantic relationships with patients and recommended education on the issue at all levels of medical training.
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