Mandatory HIV Testing (CDC pushing for all Americans 13-84) [View All]

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Mandatory HIV Testing

09/21/06
By Larry Little

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pushing to make HIV tests mandatory. The goal is to make HIV testing a routine part of doctor visits.

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The debate continues, about who should be tested for HIV. "It just depends on the risk of the individual. Those people who inject drugs, is one of the ways you can contract it and those who are sexually promiscuous", says Brown.

The Center for Disease Control wants to expand HIV testing. Already doctors are being encouraged to ask patients 13 to 84 years old if they would like an HIV test. Some experts believe mandatory testing would help save lives, by helping to track and treat the disease, but others don't think such a drastic step, like testing everyone for HIV, is necessary.

CDC backs HIV test for all between 13-64

MIKE STOBBE
Associated Press

September 21, 2006

ATLANTA - All Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 should be routinely tested for HIV to help catch infections earlier and stop the spread of the deadly virus, federal health recommendations announced Thursday say.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said HIV testing should become about as common as a cholesterol check.

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The recommendations aren't legally binding, but they influence what doctors do and what health insurance programs cover.
Some physicians groups predict the recommendations will be challenging to implement, involving new expenditures of money and time for testing, counseling and revising consent procedures.
Some physicians also question whether there is enough evidence to expand testing beyond high-risk groups, said Dr. Larry Fields, the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

"Are doctors going to do it? Probably not," Fields said.

But the recommendations were endorsed by the American Medical Association, which urged physicians to comply.

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Previously, the CDC recommended routine testing for those at high-risk for catching the virus, such as intravenous drug users and gay men, and for hospitals and certain other institutions serving areas where HIV is common. It also recommends testing for all pregnant women.
Under the new guidelines, patients would be tested for HIV as part of a standard battery of tests they receive when they go for urgent or emergency care, or even during a routine physical.

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There would be no consent form specifically for the HIV test; it would be covered in a clinic or hospital's standard care consent form. Patients would be allowed to decline the testing.

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The CDC presented planned revisions at a scientific conference in February.

Since then, the CDC has strengthened language on informed consent to make sure that no one is tested without their knowledge,...

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