Apparently, a woman in NY is suing her doctor for giving her an HIV test without her consent. While I absolutely agree that people have the right to decline testing, and her doctor was wrong to test her when she had explicitly said she did not want an HIV test, the medical rights violation isn't what I'm struck by in the story. What I'm struck by is the blatant reminder that, even when faced with evidence that they might have HIV, some people would simply prefer not to know their HIV status.
I'm in no way excusing her doctor's behavior. However, I think it's important to think about what this says about how people still see HIV today. The virus is still so stigmatized that people would rather not know if they're infected, because then they'd have to deal with that knowledge. A functional cure may be possible for many people, but that fact is outweighed by the fact that they might have to disclose their status to future partners and live with the social and legal ramifications of a positive test.
I find that frightening. I'd like to believe that we live in a world where knowledge is power. Unfortunately, I have to acknowledge the reality that, at least when it comes to STDs, that world is still a long way off. People are still dangerously ignorant about HIV, and that can make it dangerous to be honest about STD infection status... even to ourselves.
Source: http://std.about.com/b/2012/10/12/test-suit.htm
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