DOCTOR DOOM
AIDS is the only disease for which a doctor, by law, cannot order tests for without the patient’s consent. A doctor can order appropriate tests for tuberculosis, leprosy, syphilis, diabetes and a thousand other diseases. This is the first step to appropriate therapy.
AIDS mimics many other diseases, is transmitted by all sorts of sexual contacts, by needle sticks and other blood-borne routes. Surely it is not too much to ask that legal prohibitions against obtaining appropriate blood tests without the patient’s consent be lifted.
CHARLES H. MARKHAM, MD
PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, UCLA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
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