Testing For HIV Without Consent

It passed without a blip on the radar, but last month Indiana Gov. Mitchell Daniels signed a bill that permits testing people for HIV without their consent. Indiana Senate Bill 52 states:

Allows a physician or physician's authorized representative to test an individual for HIV if certain conditions are met unless the individual to be tested refuses to consent to the test. (Current law prohibits a physician from performing the test without the oral or written consent of the individual.) Requires a refusal by an individual to have the test to be documented in the individual's medical record. Requires the physician or authorized representative to: (1) discuss with the patient the availability of counseling concerning the test results; (2) notify the patient of the test results; and (3) inform a patient with a test result indicating that the patient is HIV infected of treatment and referral options available to the patient. Provides that under certain circumstances, a physician may order an HIV test for a patient without informing the patient or despite the individual's refusal of the test.

Good thing or invasion of privacy?