Normally I love the “Things I Learned from my Patients” thread on the Student Doctor Networks forums. Funny, full of the kind of morbid medical humour that’s rampant with ED docs, EMTs, firemen, etc, and just plain amusing stories.
However, this particular post got my ire up for the following comment:
In a urology clinic, had a patient come in for ED (see, that’s why it fits here!) and asking for Viagra. Denied any medical history, but when I got to meds, tells me he’s on Truvada and the such. Also, am I a jerk for not wanting to give someone with HIV ED meds? Wouldn’t this be like telling him to make sure he shares his dirty needles as well?
Well no, no, as a matter of fact that’s not. What, people who’re HIV+ should never ever have sex again? HIV has gone from being a fast moving death sentence, And the Band Played On plague, to a managed infectious disease. Yes, it’s still infectious, yes, it can still kill – and it can also be managed, like many other chronic infectious diseases, and it’s not our jobs to decide who’s allowed to continue living their life and who has to wear a scarlet HIV across their chests, forever denied intimacy, love, or just the physical gratification of sex.
Yes, one would hope the doctor would educate the patient about HIV being a preexisting condition and part of the medical history. One would hope the doctor would talk safe sex and how to reduce the risk of transmission, and the need to be open and honest about your status with your partner. But it’s not the doctor’s job to decide that the patient can or cannot have sex – just like a doctor shouldn’t decide that about anyone’s sex life, for any reason.