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HIV Testing, Informed Consent, and Privacy Concerns

HIV Testing, Informed Consent, and Privacy Concerns

In the past, patients were not required to give informed consent before submitting to routine blood tests. This has changed with regard to screenings for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Generally, a patient must give informed consent before being tested for HIV. However, there are some circumstances in which the need to be certain of whether a patient has HIV outweighs the patient's right to give informed consent before his or her blood is tested.

Blood donor

If a person wants to be a blood donor, he or she will be required to undergo HIV testing.

Blood banks are prohibited from accepting blood from a donor who has HIV. Therefore, they test all blood donations for HIV. If a potential donor tests positive for HIV, their donated blood cannot be used. Blood banks are required to let potential donors know the results of the HIV test. They may not communicate those results to anyone else without the donor's permission. To do so would violate federal privacy laws, notably the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Medical emergency

There are other circumstances when a patient's informed consent is not required prior to HIV testing. One of those circumstances arises in the case of medical emergency or necessity. A patient's informed consent to test his blood for HIV may not be required if a healthcare worker is stuck by a needle while drawing blood from the patient. Informed consent cannot be obtained if a patient is unconscious.

If two prisoner are involved in a fight, and the blood from one gets into the open wounds of the other, HIV testing will be required to determine whether either of the prisoners has HIV. HIV blood testing may be ordered regardless of the prisoners' wishes.

Privacy concerns

Pursuant to the HIPPA, the federal government has established nationwide privacy rules, to protect patients' confidential medical information. The privacy rules protect patients' medical and health records and limits the way that those records can be used. The privacy rules have some exceptions. Information contained in medical records can be shared in order to provide an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment to patients.

Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.