Abstract
As clinical concerns are evolving about the treatment of psychiatric patients who have AIDS or are carriers of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ( 1 ,2), a related set of legal issues is being raised by involvement of these persons with the mental health system. To date, in mental health law as in other areas of AIDS-related law, it is easier to frame the questions than to provide definitive answers (3,4). There is clearly value, however, in beginning to consider the dilemmas. With public concern growing about persons with positive HIV blood tests recklessly transmitting the virus, the legitimacy of using the mental health system for their detention will become an issue of increasing debate. The issue is already being discussed among emergency mental health personnel, though only one published account could be found of an HIV carrier confined to a psychiatric hospital for the purpose of quarantine (5,6). Will more facilities be forced to fill this role? Demands for psychiatric hospitalization of HIV-positive persons who engage in promiscuous sexual
Published Version
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