8 hours ago · 2,360. Feb 3, 2011. #13. Belleza156 said: I am a lil confused on the issue of whether or not a physician has the duty to inform a patients wife that their husband, his patient has HIV, or some STD. I know bioethics says beneficence rule takes over here, so you have to tell the wife because she is in danger. >> Go To The Portal
Than the actual law states physician-patient confidentiality is required to be upheld so you encourage patient to tell wife, report to health department any necessary infections, but you do not tell the wife w/o permission from the patient.
Additionally, when it comes to having sex with a new partner, sexual health and medical history should be at the forefront of conversation before either pair of pants drop. With that being said, most laws are in place for people who knowingly infect another person with an STD and the liability of knowing is not emphasized.
If a hospital worker infects a patient with an STD, or any other infectious disease, the patient can press charges based on medical malpractice. In such cases, the plaintiff must follow medical malpractice rules that are very specific.
Inversely, if a patient is infected with an STD by hospital staff, the medical providers have a legal ability and right to disclose the patient’s STD status with any other staff members that may come into contact, or directly treat the infected patient.
This one is easy to answer. Yes – both you and your husband should get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. What’s more, you should do so at the earliest opportunity.
When a patient is diagnosed with an STD, he or she also must be notified of appropriate medical precautions to take, and reasonable strategies to prevent transmission to others. The physician should recommend the patient's sexual partners be notified and treated, advises Rice. "If the individual is married, then you should tell the patient to notify that party and all others who may be at risk," he says.
If you have a positive culture and can't reach the patient, you have to document that you tried and were unsuccessful, says Lawrence. But the question is, how hard do you have to try?
For example, the patient is called immediately for a positive spinal fluid culture, even if it is 4:00 a.m., but for a positive STD culture, the patient would be called the next morning by an ED nurse.
However, you can encourage the patient to inform their spouse or sexual partners about their STD. You also can — and should — tell the patient that you are required by law to report to the health department any STD that is listed by your state as a reportable disease, and make them aware that the health department may contact their significant other. But that's as far as you can go.
Failure to contact a patient is a significant legal risk for both the physician and the hospital, says W. Frank Peacock, MD, vice chief of emergency medicine research at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. "That is why I rarely establish a callback routine when a patient wants to leave before all their results are back. Instead, I tell the patient they have to contact me," he says. "That way, if there is a failure to reach them for whatever reason, the onus was on them. I've had patients go out to the bar after leaving the ED. How could I possibly track them down?"
If a patient has a sexually transmitted disease and you are fearful of him or her infecting others, you may be tempted to inform the patient's spouse or significant other. However, this is the patient's decision to make... not the doctor's.
If a gonorrhea culture comes back positive for a minor who was discharged from the ED, the provider has every legal right to talk to the parents, and informing them is perfectly acceptable , says Lawrence.
The widespread nature of STDs in America is largely contributed to the lack of clear diagnoses through the routine screening for STD infection. Lack of testing can be further attributed to the lack of awareness around STDs in general, the stigmatization of STD screening, and lack of access to testing services.
STDAware’s caring and knowledgeable advice counselors are available to speak with you and answer any of your STD questions. Contact us toll-free: 1-855-588-6958 or email: customerservice@stdaware.com
STDAware is the ONLY online STD testing provider that offers post-test medical consultation with a board-certified physician AND prescription treatment* at no additional cost to their patients . To find out more about the free medical services provided at STDAware, click here.
It is the STDAware mission to provide affordable, simple, and convenient testing services so that everyone can be aware of their STD status. STDAware offers full panel and individual testing options.
District of Columbia (Washington DC): Laboratory HIV Reporting. Florida: Florida has several criminal laws that criminalize specific types of conduct: sexual intercourse, prostitution, prostitution with HIV, and criminal transmission of HIV. The penalty one will receive depends on the individual crime charged.
Washington: Washington has three varying laws regarding STD transmission: Criminal exposure to HIV is a felony assault, exposing another to an STD is a crime, and exposing another to a contagious disease is also a crime. West Virginia: Informed Consent, Counseling & Laboratory HIV Reporting.
Willful Exposure-anyone who has any kind of infectious disease commits a misdemeanor offense when he/she exposes it to others. Donating tissue-it is a felony offense if one who is knowingly infected donates bodily materials.
A doctor may instruct a patient’s roommate about proper medicine dosage when she comes to pick up her friend from the hospital.
A doctor may give information about a patient’s mobility limitations to a friend driving the patient home from the hospital.
A surgeon may, if consistent with such professional judgment, inform a patient’s spouse, who accompanied her husband to the emergency room, that the patient has suffered a heart attack and provide periodic updates on the patient’s progress and prognosis.
Even when the patient is not present or it is impracticable because of emergency circumstances or the patient’s incapacity for the covered entity to ask the patient about discussing her care or payment with a family member or other person, a covered entity may share this information with the person when, in exercising professional judgment, it determines that doing so would be in the best interest of the patient. See 45 CFR 164.510 (b). Thus, for example:
A doctor may , if consistent with such professional judgment, discuss an incapacitated patient’s condition with a family member over the phone.