Hot Topic (8/24): Should HIV testing be mandatory?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 From CBS News: 

Should Mandatory HIV Testing Be the Norm?

CDC Believes that One in Five Infected with HIV Are Unaware and Routine Testing Could Save Lives

(CBS)  After nearly three decades of fighting HIV/AIDS, more than a 140 people in the U.S. are still being infected with the virus every day.

Monica Sweeney of New York City's Department of Health says the most at risk of getting HIV have limited access to medical care and don't find out they are infected until they already have full blown AIDS.

"That means for eight to 10 years they have been giving out HIV, having behaviors that transmit it and many times without their knowledge," Sweeney said.

To combat that, the Centers for Disease Control recommends identifying new cases by systematically testing every patient who steps into an emergency room. But New York and nine other states are in direct conflict with those guidelines. They mandate what's known as "informed consent," which means health care professionals must explain the test and get the patient's signature, reports CBS News correspondent Priya David.

Saint Vincent Hospital's Dr. Antonio Urbina has been pushing for testing reform because he says informed consent has become a barrier to stopping the virus.

"Anything we can do to normalize testing will increase patients accepting HIV and increase our ability to diagnose it," Urbina said.

But some advocacy groups say informed consent doesn't prevent testing, rather, it helps patients understand their treatment options if they test positive.

"Just saying to someone 'Here's a test, here's a result,' does not make them go into care, does not make them disclose who they are sexually involved with or change behavior," said Marjorie Hill, the CEO with Gay Men's Health Crisis.

But a few hospitals, like one in the Bronx borough of New York have found a way to work within the current rules, and even use modern technology to vastly increase the number of patients tested.

Patients give information through a computer - and doctors say patients feel more comfortable this way.

Since Jacobi instituted its streamlined program and added the computerized consent form three years ago, it's tested more than 26,000 patients and diagnosed 150 with HIV.

"We are finding positive patients who are unaware of their disease status," said Dr. Yvette Calderon, with the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. "That's huge."

A bill to eliminate written informed consent was recently introduced in the New York State legislature.

* * *

Your reaction?

Do you know anyone with HIV or AIDS?

Do you think that HIV testing should be routine and/or mandatory for everyone who visits a medical facility or doctor?

[mamaof2angles]

Why not??? They already test you for HIV when your pregnant, besides most people whom find out they have it didnt even know they had it.  It helps to protect both the person and the hosptial staff as well.  JMHO

[areid1023]

as the PP said...why not??

they didn't ask me what they could test me for when i was preggo. and i don't blame them. why should they? i agreed to let them "treat" me...the same as when i set foot into a hospital ER. saying they have the right to test for it does not mean they have the right to shout it from the rooftops when they get the results. but as doctors, they should be able to know what they are dealing with.

[nysa76]

I'm all for everyone getting tested, but I do have a few concerns about doing it this way... First, I don't want one more thing adding to the expense of an emergency room.  Second, those most likely to test positive are more likely not to seek treatment for other conditions (I believe) which, if that's the case, their health is at even greater risk.

I don't see anything wrong with written informed consent.  Why not just offer it to each patient?  Have those papers among all the others that we all sign when being admitted?

I'm not sure about what PP said about pregnancy.  Yes, I was tested, but I was asked if I wanted the test, given a paper to sign my permission... and that was for all the tests, not just the HIV.

[Berd]

I agree with Nysa

[jrdnjstn00]

I agree that they should test you.

I got tested when I was pregnant. i also got tested when my boyfriend died all of a sudden a few years ago and I found out he was a big time player, we were together for 3yrs.

It's the scariest thing in the world to get tested for but if you care anything for yourself or your body, then you have no problem in getting tested and if it comes up postive to get the correct treatment if you want. You should also be woman enough or man enough to tell a potential partner that you have it and let them decide on if they truely want to be with you.

If I were a doctor I would want to know what the patient has so I could take precautionary measures to protect myself and vice-versa but alot of people don't think that way.

I don't know anyone who had or has HIV or AIDS

[sassyandy124]

  I think it should be OFFERED, but NOT mandatory. Personally I think we need to reduce 'mandatory' dictates from the gov't rather than encourage more. Also who would pay for these tests? You're talking millions of tests a day in the U.S. (if every state ha such a law) Would insurance cover it? Medicaid, medicare? What if it's an 85 yr old person who had a heart attack. Do we really feel that they need a hiv test? What about a 3 day old baby? A nun? etc...

[tericared]

 

Should Mandatory HIV Testing Be the Norm?

no

[Eilish]

1) Who's going to pay for it?

2) It invades the privacy of individuals who neither want nor need the test.

[Friday]

 Mandatory, no but it should be offered.

I have lost 2 friends to AIDS.

[morningdove831]

It should be offered, but not mandatory.  Who is gonna foot the bill for all the mandatory testing?