Law and Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome - Essay Example

Law and Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome The AIDS epidemic has emerged to be the most deadly and feared disease since its discovery in the late 20th century. Millions of people have contracted it; some have died in many parts of the world, thus giving an explanation to the increased number of cases revolving around it. Globally AIDS is becoming a major threat to economic growth and causative agent of the increased number of health problems. The disease can be transmitted through coming into contact with body fluids of infected people such as blood, semen, and milk. George D in his book, legal aspects of healthcare clearly explains the cases arising from this deadly epidemic and the available verdicts. These law suits many times result from errors in HIV tests, sexual transmissions, blood transfusion, refusal to treat an HIV patient, and unauthorized disclosure of the patient`s status, Blood transfusion involves two stages diagnosis and therapy. Diagnosis aims to find out whether there is a need for blood transfusion while therapy is the physical process of blood transfusion. Most cases normally arise when a patient claims to have contracted HIV/AIDs because of blood transfusion. When this occurs, it is certain there was no proper blood test or proper screening of the donor. In such circumstances, the plaintiff has to show that the defendant acted negligently and because of this negligence, he was injured. In Roberts v. Subarn Hospital Association, it was held by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals that transfusion of blood was a service rendered and not a sell of product. The court stated that, “A transfusion is not just a sell of blood which the patient takes home as a package. The transfusion of the blood-the injecting of it into the patient`s bloodstream-is what he really needs and pays for, and that involves the application of a medical skill.” Disclosure of a patient`s HIV status after tasting without consent is a crime that calls for legal action. There have been developed state laws that protect confidentiality of HIV/AIDS-related information. Information concerning a patient`s diagnosis as HIV positive must not be disclosed and can only be disclosed to other healthcare professionals if need be. Disclosure of one`s HIV status violates his/her rights to privacy concerning their personal affairs. In Estate of Behringer v. Medical Center at Princeton, the plaintiff, a surgeon was entitled to damages for unauthorized disclosure of his status at the hospital. The hospital had breached its duty of care of maintaining the surgeon`s records confidential by placing the surgeon`s test results in his medical chat without limiting access to it. In Doe V. university of Cincinnati, a patient was infected with HIV while in surgery through contaminated blood. He filed a case against the blood bank and the hospital. The trial court allowed the plaintiff to know the identity of the blood donor but the defendants appealed and the court of appeal held that the injury of disclosing the identity of the blood donor overrode the injury of the plaintiff. The court further explained that the donor had constitutional rights to his privacy and therefore he could not be identified. Nobody should be discriminated under any circumstance in the hiring of public servants. There has been an increment on the cases involving discrimination of people with HIV in employment, which is indeed unlawful. In Raytheon v. Fair Employment and Housing Commission, The California Court of Appeals determined that an employee who suffered from AIDS and was treated and released from hospital was unlawfully denied his right to go back to work after he was treated in the hospital. It was held that AIDS is a physical handicap that can be protected and the employer failed to convince the court how this poised danger to his other employers. However, infected who are presumed risky should not be left in positions. In School Board of Nassau County v Airline, it was stated that, “a person who poises a significant risk of communicating a significant disease will not be otherwise qualified for his/her job if reasonable accommodations will not eliminate the risk.” In cases where employees fail to treat AIDS patients, there are two approaches in dealing with the problem; firstly, staff employers should embark on educating their employees and secondly, employers should initiate disciplinary actions against such employees. Therefore, employees have equal right at work whether infected with disease or not and such should be upheld without discrimination. A suit may also arise when a person’s lab report is wrongfully reported. This can result into mental stress, which is not due. In Johnson v. United States, a service member brought an action against the state that she was wrongly advised to be infected with HIV/AIDS when she had donated blood to a public blood drive by the army physicians, which made her to procure an abortion. The United States barred the action under the Feres Doctrine, but it was held by the district court that the blood donation was not incident to service and thus the doctrine did not hold. Mental stress can also result from a patient being transfused with wrong blood from the one he/she wills to be transfused. In Bordelon v. St.Francis Cabrini Hospital, the plaintiff Bordelon gave her own blood to be transfused if need arose during her surgery but the hospital provided a donor blood during transfusion.The plaintiff filed a case but the hospital also filed a counter case and the Ninth Judicial District Court dismissed the case. However, on appeal by the plaintiff, the court of appeal found that there existed a course of action for mental ditress because indeed HIV can be transmitted through body fluids like blood. Negligence can also result to a person contracting HIV/AIDS due to use of unsterilized objects. The AIDS epidemic has affected many parts of the world and therefore, there is need to enact generally acceptable international laws to curb the problem involving HIV/AIDs. The main steps that have been taken in most countries include the enactment of laws that take care of people living with HIV/AIDs by ensuring they are not discriminated against. Some of the laws also try to stop the spread of the disease because it affects every part of the social life and deterioration of the world`s economy. For instance, in the United States many laws have been enacted most of which seeks to protect people living with HIV/AIDs and some which try to reduce the spread of the epidemic. Some of these laws include; Occupational Safety and Health Act which requires the implementation of strict procedures by organizations to protect their employees against HIV/AIDS. Aids Emergency Act, which aims to provide financial assistance and emergency to the localities affected by HIV. Under this act, the government can use state funds to provide community based care services for individuals affected by the disease. Other measures include public education and sensitization concerning HIV/AIDs. Works Cited Lashley, R., and Jerry D. The Person with HIV/AIDS: Nursing Perspectives. New York: Springer Pub, 2010. Print. Read More