Capacity to consent to treatment

A competent adult patient has an ethical and legal right to give, or withhold, consent to an examination, investigation or treatment. Depending on the nature and complexity of an intervention, a patient with an intellectual disability may be capable of consenting to their own medical treatment. In circumstances in which an adult patient does not have the capacity to consent, there is specific guardianship legislation enacted in each state and territory which provides for valid consent by a substitute decision maker.     

Texas to switch from codes to names to track HIV cases

The Texas Department of Health is abandoning its unique identifiers tracking program and will begin using names to track HIV cases. Maryland is the only other State using coded numbers for HIV surveillance programs. Texas officials say that health care providers send them many reports with incorrect or abbreviated numbers, making it impossible to eliminate duplicate reports or accurately describe trends in the epidemic or treatment programs. The initial public response to the change has been mixed. Washington and Oregon, with no mandatory HIV reporting process now, are debating policies for case surveillance and may begin using unique identifiers.