Pennsylvania: Nurse Asks Judge to Order Patient to Take HIV Test

On Friday, a registered nurse asked a Pittsburgh court to order a male Mercy Hospital patient to undergo an HIV test after she accidentally stuck herself with a needle she used to administer his insulin. The petition states that the unnamed male patient is infected with hepatitis C and used drugs, placing him at high risk of being HIV-infected.

Though the patient was told that by taking the HIV test he "would be helping out the nurse," the petition states he refused to take it. "This is an unusual circumstance," said Linda Ross, a spokesperson for Mercy Hospital, which supports the nurse's efforts to have the patient tested. "It's the first time in our recollection where a patient refused the test," said Ross, as quoted in a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interview.

Pennsylvania law allows patients to refuse an HIV test, but hospitals can test blood they already have from patients if there has been "significant exposure." According to the nurse's petition, the exposure was significant, said Dr. Bruce MacLeod, chairperson of Mercy's department of emergency medicine. It is unclear whether Mercy had a patient blood sample.

While most patients agree to take the tests, "it's tough all the way around because it pits the privacy of the patient versus the health of the practitioner," said Patricia Hogan, president of Seattle/Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.

The nurse said she wanted to avoid a four-week prophylactic antiretroviral cocktail CDC recommends for occupational HIV exposure, due to the anemia and liver damage the drugs can cause.

Back to other news for November 9, 2004