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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Dwayne Turner, PhD, JD, MPH and Kimberly Tendrich, JD. Hospital, AG Holley State Hospital/Florida Department of Health, 1199 West Lantana Road, Lantana, FL 33308, 5615403750, Dwayne_Turner@doh.state.fl.us

Many states have public health laws that permit the state to restrict a person's liberty if he or she has a communicable disease such as tuberculosis, if he or she is non-compliant with public health orders, including therapy completion, and if he or she is a threat to others. These laws, to date, have not been applied to persons with HIV/AIDS. However, with new therapies which can reduce the infectiousness of an individual and the development of resistance when patients are not compliant with treatment, some public health and political figures are revisiting the extent to which these laws could be applied to HIV/AIDS. This paper compares the application of such laws to tuberculosis with potential applications to HIV/AIDS. Drawing from public health ethics, statistics, epidemiology and law, this paper provides an analytical framework to determine if and when such laws could ethically be applied to HIV/AIDS.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate state laws applicable to TB and HIV.
• Analyze ethical delimmas when restricting the liberties of individuals with TB and/or HIV.

Keywords: Ethics, Communicable Disease

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation