Vol , Issue
Date of Publication: July 01, 2003
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Controversy
Doctors do not have the right to refuse treatment to HIV-positive patients
Abstract:
There is no doubt that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has added to the professional hazards of some doctors and other health professionals. HIV infection is fatal and without a cure, though there are chances that it can be eradicated if drug therapy is started immediately after the onset of the infection. Hence, it is quite natural that medical professionals are afraid of acquiring HIV infection from patients. This issue of risk to medical professionals is serious. Despite these facts, I believe doctors and hospitals should not be allowed to refuse treatment to patients for the reason that they are HIV positive.
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©Indian Journal of Medical Ethics 2016: Open Access and Distributed under the Creative Commons license ( CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits only non-commercial and non-modified sharing in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.