Ethical ? about AIDS....

[Nacki]

There is a patient in my unit that is dying of full-blown AIDS (PCP). His wife who lives in Mexico is completely unaware. The doctors are not telling the wife what the problem is. They just say he has pnemonia. Is this right? I know it may be considered a HIPPA violation, but isnt HIV/AIDS status reportable to ALL partners...especially the wife? What if she was infected by him before he came to the States and is sick? How can we control this virus if we won't notify people who have come in sexual contact with infected individuals?

[NanSeeH]

If the patient is unresponsive, who is giving "informed" consent?

[Nacki, MSN, NP]

I believe he just has friends here. He didn't want to be treated for anything in the first place, but ended up in the hospital somehow. He got emurgently intubated a few wks ago....