"Mandatory Testing In The Medical Field".
Should AIDS testing be mandatory in the medical field? Of course it should. In a study done by the Washington Post in 1989, it was found that 5,815 health care workers had AIDS, this included 42 surgeons. It is known that 40 of those 5,815 contracted it through infected patients. Which means when a person goes to the hospital for any reason any one there could have this disease and very easily pass it on to them unknowingly. Is this the kind of risk patients should have to take. Obviously they are there for some type of illness already, do we need to add a more serious one to the list.
One way to narrow the risk of contracting AIDS through health care workers using mandatory testing is by having those health care workers who test positive reveal their results to their patients. Some people believe this is a breech of confidentiality. According to Dr. Lonnie Britow, an AMA Trustee in California, "The implications are different from any other test that can be run other diseases don't mean u lose your job and your insurance coverage" (Chicago Tribune, online). Does this mean that a person's job and insurance coverage is more important than their patient's lives. .
There is a case in which a 23 year old women named Kimberly Berghlis contracted AIDS from her dentist, Dr. David Acer. Now because this woman decided to go to Dr. Acer for her dental work she now has AIDS. Is that fair? Of course not. If Dr. Acer would have taken the proper precautions to protect his patients, either by using proper equipment or by revealing his results, this woman may have been able to lead a healthy life. Instead because of his carelessness or even thoughtlessness she was infected with the virus. .
Another way to narrow the possibility of contacting AIDS through mandatory testing is once known a person has AIDS, they should be limited to certain procedures that they may perform.