NCJ Number
117487
Journal
New Jersey Lawyer Issue: 126 Dated: (January/February 1989) Pages: 52-56,80
Date Published
1989
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Hospitals which fall under the mandate of a number of statutes are legally obliged to treat patients with AIDS or HIV infection, but the law imposes a limited duty on individual physicians to treat these patients, although the ethics and statements promulgated by medical societies encourage such treatment.
Abstract
The Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Federal Hospital Survey and Construction Act (Hill-Burton Act) mandate that hospitals receiving Federal funds not discriminate in their treatment policies. The New Jersey legislature is also seeking to impose a more direct legal duty on hospitals to treat AIDS-infected persons through the enactment of the proposed Fair Share Act. This would require every licensed general hospital to accept its fair share of patients with AIDS based on the patient's place of residence. Although the law imposes a limited duty on individual physicians to treat all persons seeking their services, there is almost uniform agreement in the medical profession that a physician should not 'categorically' refuse to treat a patient with AIDS. The sanctions for violating the mandates of the medical associations, however, are minimal. The magnitude of the AIDS epidemic may generate the need for greater assurance that the medical profession will continue to respond responsibly during this crisis. 52 footnotes.