Physicians and AIDS Testing

There is a great deal of misinformation being disseminated by the AIDS lobby to the effect that physicians in the state of California do not want testing for AIDS HIV infection. Exactly the opposite is the case.

The governing body of the California Medical Assn. is the House of Delegates. In February, 1986, the doctors overwhelmingly voted to do AIDS testing of patients going into the hospital for surgery and to seek ways to change state law that effectively prohibits doctors from testing for the presence of the virus. Tragically, the AIDS lobby was able to block those efforts.

In March, 1987, the physicians at the House of Delegates meeting, again, overwhelmingly voted to pursue prenatal and premarital testing, to encourage voluntary testing, and to carry out standard public health care techniques in the follow up of AIDS HIV infection as they would with other communicable diseases. Once again, the AIDS lobby effectively blocked that effort.

If AIDS continues doubling every year as it has in the past, within 10 years we will have 30 million Americans dead and dying. Every month of delay now will be measured in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives monthly in 10 to 15 years. Now is the time to start treating the AIDS HIV infection as we would with any other infection that would threaten to destroy our society. We have already delayed too long and millions of people will most certainly die needlessly because of the influence of the AIDS lobby. Now is the time for action. Call or write to your state assemblyman and insist he support Sen. John Doolittle’s AIDS legislation.

STANLEY K. MONTEITH, M.D.

CMA House Delegate

Santa Cruz