Document 0687
 DOCN  M95A0687
 TI    Court puts onus on doctors to warn patients about HIV status.
 DT    9510
 SO    AIDS Policy Law. 1995 Mar 24;10(5):3-4. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       AIDS/95700234
 AB    Associate Justice Miriam A. Vogel, in a California appeals court, stated
       that doctors have an obligation to tell infected patients that they have
       a contagious disease so that patients and people around them can avoid
       spreading the illness. A decade ago, physician Eric Fonklesrud of the
       University of California (UCLA) Medical Center, operated on 12-year-old
       Jennifer Lawson and did not tell her or her parents that he had
       discovered that her blood transfusion was contaminated with HIV. Years
       later, Lawson, unaware she was HIV-positive, had sex with her boyfriend
       Daniel Reisner, and infected him. Consequently, Reisner filed suit
       against Fonklesrud and UCLA for damages. Before the suit reached trial,
       the judge dismissed Reisner's complaint; however, the appeals court
       concluded otherwise. The appeals court also rejected the defense's
       argument that the physician's first duty is to his patient, not
       unidentified third parties. According to the court, California case law
       obligates the doctor to provide warnings.
 DE    Blood Transfusion  HIV Infections/TRANSMISSION  *HIV Seropositivity
       *Liability, Legal  Physician-Patient Relations  *Physicians  NEWSLETTER
       ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).