AIDS, surgery, and the Americans With Disabilities Act

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus hav e had a major impact on the practice of medicine in the past 2 decades. Med ical professionals are once again faced with a lethal contagious disease th at has been transmitted in the health care setting to both patients and pro viders. Because of the stigma and fear associated with the infection, civil rights legislation, such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, has been used to protect infected individuals from inappropriate discrimination base d on unwarranted fears and public hysteria. Various courts, with the backin g of organized medicine and the public health authorities, have made it cle ar that it is illegal for a physician to refuse to treat a patient based on the patient's seropositivity. Unfortunately, various courts, with the back ing of the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have made it dear that infected physicians are not necessa rily afforded equal protection under the civil rights statutes.