AIDS and the Duty To Inform Others (From The Meaning of AIDS: Implications for Medical Science, Clinical Practice, and Public Health Policy, P 108-116, 1989, Eric T Juengst and Barbara A Koenig, eds. -- NCJ-123590)

• NCJ Number: 123599
• Author(s): W J Winslade
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Praeger Publishers
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter examines the moral issues of whether or not persons who have AIDS, carry the antibody to the AIDS virus, or are known to be at risk for AIDS ("risk carriers") have a duty to inform others who have been or may be exposed to the risk of AIDS and whether risk carriers or their providers have a duty not to expose others to the possibility of infection.

Abstract

The author argues that risk carriers do have a moral responsibility not to expose others unknowingly to the risk of a fatal infectious disease. Risk carriers also have a moral duty to inform others who may be or may have been at risk for AIDS because of contact with the risk carrier. Not only does such a disclosure respect the autonomy and right of others to know, it also indirectly helps to protect third parties who might otherwise unknowingly be exposed to a risk of infection. The moral duty of the risk carrier to disclose the risk of infection to others, however, extends only to those actually placed at risk. The moral duties of the health care professional who treats the risk carrier are similar. The professional must preserve the risk carrier's privacy but also prevent the harm the risk carrier may cause to others. The Rock Hudson and Tarasoff cases are used as illustrations. 5 notes.