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Perry L. Bartelt, MD; Marjorie A. Bowman, MD, MPA
Bowman Gray School of Medicine Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC

JAMA. 1987;258(12):1604-1605.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The article by Baker et al¹ raises some interesting ethical questions. It is not uncommon to perform research laboratory tests on blood drawn for routine medical care on an anonymous basis, as was done in this study. However, we wonder if this is appropriate when dealing with a known contagious and deadly disease such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This action essentially places the interests of the authors and presumably the interests of health care workers above that of the patients, the patients' sexual contacts, and possibly the public. A recent incident in our own center highlights the difficult ethical issues involved.

Report of a Case.—

A 35-year-old man with previous homosexual experiences was seen for symptoms consistent with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and, with his permission, the test for HIV antibodies was drawn. By the next day, the patient called to say he had . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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