Question
Aren't doctors responsible for delivering correct HIV results?
25 March 2008. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, HIV testing.
If someone tested HIV positive a year ago and then a year later tests HIV negative, will the doctor not tell them they are negative or not? I just read a case of someone who was taking medication for around 9 years. Her doctor never told her she was HIV negative. This ended in a law suit and she received 2.5 million dollars.
Answer
Thanks you for your question. The case you quote is very unusual. Indeed, most doctors do talk to their patients about their HIV test results. In some parts of the world, it might be a counsellor or a nurse who would be the first point of contact.
To avoid the situation of the case you highlighted, confirmatory HIV tests are recommended. This is when all HIV positive tests are followed up by another test to confirm the positive result. I am not sure why this wasn’t done in this case.