At the same time, the lawmakers passed a more moderate measure proposed by four Senate leaders as an alternative to the Helms amendment. Following new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, it requires that health professionals performing specific “exposure prone” procedures learn their HIV status. Those testing positive would be barred from the riskiest procedures unless they receive permission from patients and professional review panels.
Neither measure has the force of law; both were tacked on to an appropriations bill now headed for a HouseSenate conference committee. The Helms amendment probably won’t survive the process, but public-health experts are dismayed that the Senate embraced it at all. In practical terms, the issue isn’t just whether health workers are infected but whether they’re adhering to routine infection-control procedures. Rigorously monitoring the sterilization of equipment, the use of protective clothing and the handling of medical waste would help protect patients not only from doctors but from one another. But that may not be enough to quell people’s fears.
