When a person discloses a positive HIV status to a partner, the disclosure eliminates many of the moral, ethical, and legal considerations inherent in the opposite scenario. Just what is our responsibility as physicians in this regard? Do we have a duty to protect and warn the known sexual partners of a nondisclosing, HIV-positive person? Such actions can breach the therapeutic alliance between doctor and patient, but not disclosing has the potential to place a third party at risk.
I've found that nondisclosure on the part of patients to partners is common. When I was on the hospital ethics committee at the Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance, for example, cases ...