Quebec will make doctors disclose their HIV status
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《英国医生杂志》
Quebec
Quebec's health minister and the province's College of Physicians are preparing a mandatory disclosure policy for doctors who are HIV positive, after Montreal's H?pital Ste Justine had to offer HIV testing to 2614 patients who had been operated on by a paediatric surgeon with HIV infection.
Under the new policy, doctors infected by HIV or other contagious pathogens will have to disclose their condition to hospital or college authorities, but the health minister, Philippe Couillard, ruled out mandatory HIV testing for doctors.
He told a news conference: "The scenario of systematic (HIV) testing of doctors appears to be ethically questionable, not to mention unworkable. It raises numerous questions regarding confidentiality. And testing can create a false sense of security."
The paediatric surgeon involved was Dr Maria Di Lorenzo, who contracted the virus while treating a baby at the hospital in 1990. Although she disclosed her status to the hospital the following year after being tested, she continued working under strict precautions. Between 1996 and 2003 hospital authorities lost track of documentation of her condition and were unaware of it until they were told by another doctor on 9 January 2004. Dr Di Lorenzo died last August, aged 48, after taking medical leave.
Paediatric surgeon Dr Maria Di Lorenzo contracted HIV from treating a baby
Ten thousand phone calls were received by the hospital in the five days after it sent letters to her patients. Hospital officials said the risk of patients having been infected by Dr Di Lorenzo were extremely low. None of more than 900 blood tests completed on 1200 patients given appointments were HIV positive.
Dr Sunil Patel, president of the Canadian Medical Association, told Canadian Press he was not aware of any province that forced doctors to make such a disclosure, but he said that "if a physician knows they have HIV, then they must engage in a meaningful discussion with their ethics committee in the hospital where they practise."
? In the United Kingdom, there is no mandatory requirement on doctors to disclose their HIV status to their employers. But guidance from the General Medical Council says that any doctor who acquires a serious communicable disease must promptly seek and follow advice from a suitably qualified colleague.(David Spurgeon)
Quebec's health minister and the province's College of Physicians are preparing a mandatory disclosure policy for doctors who are HIV positive, after Montreal's H?pital Ste Justine had to offer HIV testing to 2614 patients who had been operated on by a paediatric surgeon with HIV infection.
Under the new policy, doctors infected by HIV or other contagious pathogens will have to disclose their condition to hospital or college authorities, but the health minister, Philippe Couillard, ruled out mandatory HIV testing for doctors.
He told a news conference: "The scenario of systematic (HIV) testing of doctors appears to be ethically questionable, not to mention unworkable. It raises numerous questions regarding confidentiality. And testing can create a false sense of security."
The paediatric surgeon involved was Dr Maria Di Lorenzo, who contracted the virus while treating a baby at the hospital in 1990. Although she disclosed her status to the hospital the following year after being tested, she continued working under strict precautions. Between 1996 and 2003 hospital authorities lost track of documentation of her condition and were unaware of it until they were told by another doctor on 9 January 2004. Dr Di Lorenzo died last August, aged 48, after taking medical leave.
Paediatric surgeon Dr Maria Di Lorenzo contracted HIV from treating a baby
Ten thousand phone calls were received by the hospital in the five days after it sent letters to her patients. Hospital officials said the risk of patients having been infected by Dr Di Lorenzo were extremely low. None of more than 900 blood tests completed on 1200 patients given appointments were HIV positive.
Dr Sunil Patel, president of the Canadian Medical Association, told Canadian Press he was not aware of any province that forced doctors to make such a disclosure, but he said that "if a physician knows they have HIV, then they must engage in a meaningful discussion with their ethics committee in the hospital where they practise."
? In the United Kingdom, there is no mandatory requirement on doctors to disclose their HIV status to their employers. But guidance from the General Medical Council says that any doctor who acquires a serious communicable disease must promptly seek and follow advice from a suitably qualified colleague.(David Spurgeon)