\"I know Ben Therman is HIV positive,\" Dr. Tad Knowles said. \"He\'s been in th
ID: 164187 • Letter: #
Question
"I know Ben Therman is HIV positive," Dr. Tad Knowles said. "He's been in therapy with me for almost five years, and he tells me about his viral load. Ben got the virus from a dirty needle when he was an IV drug user, but he's been clean since he was diagnosed."
"He didn't tell Margo any of that," Dr. Susan Thomas said. "She's been my patient for two years, and he's the first man she's had sex with in that time. I asked her if she'd checked out Ben, and she said she'd been too embarrassed. Besides, he was so wonderful, she was sure he would have told her if he had HIV."
"Oh, brother," Dr. Knowles said. "Margo needs to know, so she can get tested and start taking drugs if she's HIV positive."
"So what should we do about this, Tad?"
In your post, respond to the following:
What conflict of duties do Drs. Knowles and Dr. Thomas face?
Does Dr. Knowles have a duty to keep the information confidential when what he knows about Ben might help save Margo's life?
Explanation / Answer
In this case the question of confidentiality is negligible because by knowing the information it will help the other victim to start a treatment process hence the information has to be reveled.
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