HIV Confidentiality Breach

[akwakne]

What is the name of your state? PA

OK, my partners ex, happens to be the nurse at his former doctors office. For three years he has stalked him and tried to create problems. He has now began to go around telling everyone of our HIV status without our consent. It has been getting back to us from various sources for over a month now. He also actually admitted in a messenger conversation with my partner that he has been disclosing my status. We have continually asked him to leave us alone and stop creating problems, as well as not to disclose our status. It is effecting our relationships with friends and those with whom erally have no business knowing our status. Does this fall under and category of libel, slander etc? What if anything can we do to go after him and force him to stop?

 

[dallas702]

No matter what the ACLU or anyone else says you should tell anyone you come in contact with that you are infected. I find it the height of selfishness for someone who could cause the misery and death of another person through the transmittal of a disease to hide that fact. Maybe you feel it's no one else's business, but maybe others would disagree and want to know that you are HIV + before they hung around you. If your "partner's" ex is telling the truth it's certainly not slander. Maybe he sees the situation as a health issue.

 

[justalayman]

Did the ex get the info from the doctor files or is it common knowledge about the HIV.

 

[EvilWizard]

Simple question: Does your partner's ex know of the HIV infection because s/he is your partner's ex or because s/he must have looked it up in a file... If your partner's ex knows it because your partner told s/he about it then you have zero case as it is truth and it wasn't gleaned and further spread from your medical files. (Also even if it was taken from your medical files I would say it would be hard to prove since their was a relationship involved prior to this...)

 

[akwakne]

Yes the ex did find out through his medical profession. He was in fact the one who called him to tell him he needed to see the doctor asap for his results. He continues to go around telling all of my partners friends and acquintances. My partner is disturbed by this as this is affecting his friendships. It is not only being revealed to others but also being done in a mean spirited way. None of these people has my partner ever been in any form of risky contact with to warrant their need to be informed, until which time my partner feels comfortable to publically acknowledge his status.

 

[Some Random Guy]

None of these people has my partner ever been in any form of risky contact with to warrant their need to be informed

You had sympathy until that point. If you had come out and said "there is no sexual or blood-to-blood contact" between these people, they are platonic friends you would have been OK.

But now it sounds as though there is some sexual contact going on, but your partner, the person infected with the incurable deadly contagious disease, has unilaterally decided that the risk of transmission is small and his partners have no right to be informed. That's the sort of thing people should be put in jail for.

 

[dallas702]

For the protection of ANYONE who might have "risky" contact (still not allowed to be broadly defined) with your partner EVERYONE should be informed. This is the first time in our history that a communicable disease with terminal results has been allowed to be hidden from other people. So, why are we playing death roulette with a disease that can be stopped with behavioral changes? Because we don't want to offend a few people. BS.! I am greatly offended by the danger you and your "friends" present to the rest of society.

Your partner's ex is doing the right thing and should be congratulated.