Handling Cases of Willful Exposure through HIV Partner Counseling and Referral Services
![handle is hein.journals/worts23 and id is 53 raw text is: ARTICLE
Handling Cases of Willful Exposure
Through HIV Partner Counseling
and Referral Services
James G. Hodge, Jr., J.D., LL.M.* and Lawrence 0. Gostin, J.D., LL.D.
(Hon.)**
1. INTRODUCTION
In December, 1998, the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued
comprehensive guidelines on partner counsel-
ing and referral services (PCRS) for individuals
living with HIV/AIDS.2 Though the terminol-
ogy has changed, PCRS is based on partner no-
tification,3 the traditional public health practice
of assisting individuals infected with a commu-
nicable disease in notifying their sexual and/or
needle-sharing partners of the real or potential
exposure to cisease.4 As part of a comprehen-
sive public health strategy (including testing
*Adjunct Profssor of Law, Georgetown University Law
Center; Assistant Scientist, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health; Project Director, the Center for
Law and the Public's Health at Johns Hopkins and
Georgetown Universities.
**Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center;
Professor of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health; Director, the Center for Law and
the Public's Hea.lth at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown
Universities.
1. This article is substantially based on a report of the
same title prepared by the authors with funding assistance
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While this schoarly report discusses CDC and other
governmental policies and procedures, it does not represent
an official positihn of these governmental entities. The
authors would like to thank the following individuals who
expertly reviewed and commented on an initial draft of the
report on which this article is based: Ronald 0. Valdiserri,
David Holtgrave, Robert N. Kohmescher, David W. Purcell,
Dan Riedford, David Brownell, John Miles, Rick Steketee,
services, screening of sub-populations, report-
ing of cases of infectious disease, and medical
interventions for those infected),5 PCRS offers
significant public health benefits for individuals
living with HIV/AIDS, their partners, and the
community.6 Persons who may be unaware of
their risk are informed of their potential expo-
sure to HIV.7 Notified partners are advised to
test for HIV and counseled about practicing
safer behaviors to avoid future exposure.8
Those who choose to test and are found to be
infected can pursue early medical treatment
Terje Anderson, Lisa Speisseger, Robert Berke, Shepherd
Smith, Roland Foster, Scott Burris, Chris Collins, Helen Fox
Fields, Sean Bugg, Jeff S. Crowley, Beth Meyerson, Douglas
Morgan, Deborah von Zinkernagel, Brian McCormick, Julio
C. Abreu, Miguelina Maldonado, and Marilyn C. Moses.
They are also grateful to Mira Burghardt (JD Candidate,
Georgetown University Law Center) for her research
assistance.
2. Divs. OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION, U.S. DEP'T OF
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVS., HIV PARTNER COUNSELING
AND REFERRAL SERVICES - GUIDANCE (Dec. 30, 1998)
[hereinafter DHHS & CDC].
3. Lawrence 0. Gostin & James G. Hodge, Jr., Piercing
the Veil of Secrecy in HIVIAIDS and Other Sexually Trans-
mitted Diseases: Theories of Privacy and Disclosure in Partner
Notification, 5 DUKE J. GENDER L. & POL'Y 9, 12-13 (1998).
4. Id.
5. DHHS & CDC, supra note 2, at ii.
6. Id. at § 1.4.
7. Id. at § 1.2.
8. Id.
[Women's Rights Law Reporter, Volume 23, Number 1, Summer/Fall 2001]
© 2001 by Women's Rights Law Reporter, Rutgers-The State University
0085-8269/80/0908](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/worts23&div=9&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Handling Cases of Willful Exposure through HIV Partner Counseling and Referral Services
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