Outing the Secret
PHA Confidentiality Issues
By PéPé A.C.
PUBLISHED: JANUARY 2009

Ram D., 25, has been HIV positive for “just under three years now,” he says, “a status I have long gotten used to.”  But, despite the claim of “being comfortable knowing I am positive,” still only a select number of people know of his seropositive status, as “I take my time to tell (people I care about) of my situation – this isn’t like telling somebody you have a rotten tooth that needs to be taken out; and when it’s taken out, the problem is dealt with accordingly.  This is much, much bigger – and more, more life-altering.”

He was, therefore, flabbergasted when he discovered how his doctor – their family’s medical caretaker – “actually told people of my seropositive status,” Ram D. says, unsure of “whether to get angry or... just angry, actually.”  Apparently, the doctor just “told my mother I was positive, injecting it in their conversation one time she went to his clinic for her annual medical check-up.  When my mom said what he was talking about, he didn’t even back off, but supposedly said (as mom told me): ‘Oh, don’t worry; it’s no big deal anymore.’”

Having been outed is “beyond annoying” because of the consequences of that action, “especially since I, myself, wasn’t ready to disclose yet; not to mention how such a disclosure affected my life (e.g. I had to find a support system for mom to better understand my situation; I had to deal with irrational common friends of mom and that doctor, as they, too, eventually knew of my case; et cetera).  Simply, he had no right whatsoever to do this,” Ram D. says.

Ram D. is, of course, spot on.

PERMISSIBLE BY LAW

In Republic Act No. 8504, otherwise known as the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, specifically in Article VI, which deals with confidentiality, it was specifically stated that “all health professionals, medical instructor, workers, employers, recruitment agencies, insurance companies, data encoders, and other custodian of any medical record, file, data, pr test results are directed to strictly observe confidentiality in the handling of all medical information, particularly the identity and status of the person with HIV.”

In fact, all results of HIV and/or AIDS testing is to be kept confidential, and only to be released to: “The person who submitted himself / herself to such test; either parent of a minor child who has been tested; a legal guardian in the case of insane persons or orphans; a person authorised to receive such results in conjunction with the AIDSWATCH program; and/or a justice of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court (where needed).”

Disclosure is required/allowed BY LAW only when: “Complying with reportorial requirements in conjunction with the AIDSWATCH program; when informing other health workers directly involved or about to be involved in the treatment or care of a person with HIV/AIDS (provided that such treatment or care carry the risk of  HIV transmission; provided, further, that such workers shall be obliged to maintain the shared medical confidentiality); and when responding to a subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum  issued by a Court with jurisdiction over a legal proceeding where the main issue is the HIV status of an individual (provided that the confidential medical record shall be properly sealed by its lawful custodian after being double checked for accuracy by the head of the office or department, hand delivered, and personally opened by the judge; and provided, further, that the judicial proceedings be held in executive session).”

And yes, “any person with HIV is obliged to disclose his/her HIV  status and health condition to his /her sexual partner at the earliest opportune time.”

With Ram D.’s privacy violated, there are actually actions he can take against his doctor, considering that “any violation of medical confidentiality... shall suffer the penalty of  imprisonment for six months to four years without prejudice to administrative sanctions, such as fines and suspension or revocation of the violator's license to practice his/ her profession, as well as the cancellation or withdrawal of the license to operate any business entity and the accreditation of hospitals, laboratories or clinics.”

CATCH 22 SITCH

There is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t scenario for people like Ram D. – he may sue the doctor for what he did, but by doing so, Ram D. will be outed as HIV positive, “what with court documents (becoming) public documents,” he says.  “It’s a real problem – one of the loopholes of law.”

Thus, unless he wants “for the whole world to know of my status – and not just the people the (unethical) doctor gossiped to – I am left with no choice but, yes, to disclose to people close to me, and then just let the doctor be with his storytelling, (perhaps even deny my status to others he gossiped to, who would dare ask me of my status).  It isn’t easy, but, hey, this is reality.”

It goes without saying that he already changed doctors (“Pick someone trustworthy,” he says. PLEASE CHECK THE GAY-RECTORY FOR LISTING OF SERVICE PROVIDERS) – but more than that, “I’ve learned to move on.”  Ram D. has, actually, started a blog, including his experience with medical practitioner in his writings.  “It’s more than cathartic for me,” he says, “but (my experience) may serve as a warning, as an example to those who also tested positive.  If/when you want to, the law, even with its insufficiencies, can be useful to (you).  Know how you can use it.”