Privacy Worry May Keep HIV Patients from Therapy
Patients infected with HIV are often concerned about2 the confidentiality of their HIV-positive status. In fact, some patients are so worried that they will actually give up treatment to prevent the release of this information, according to a report published in the August issue of AIDS Care.
Dr. Kathryn Whetten-Goldstein and colleagues from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina3, studied the confidentiality issues of 15 HIV-infected patients from rural North Carolina locations. They were divided into groups designed to explore their attitudes toward, and experiences with, breaches in confidentiality.
“The fear of a breach in confidentiality is definitely affecting the care that HIV-infected patients receive,” Whetten-Goldstein said. “Most studied patients had experienced or knew someone who had experienced a breach in confidentiality.”
“Two types of breaches occurred,”Whetten-Goldstein noted. “The first was a more obvious type of breach. One example was a nurse who told her child that her patient was HIV-positive out of concern that her child would play with the patient’s child.4”
“The other type of breach was more subtle, one that providers might not consider breaches, 5” Whetten-Goldstein explained. “This type of breach involves providers talking about a patient’s HIV status without the patient’s knowledge of the interaction.”
“The law allows the sharing of information between providers within the same institution, but patient’s consent must be obtained before providers at different institutions can share information,” she pointed out.
“Patients in the study wanted providers to tell them when they are going to share information with other providers and why it is being done,” Whetten-Goldstein said. “They also felt that providers should be punished when a breach occurs.”
“However, because patients are often reluctant to seek legal action which may further expose their status, they felt that the system should regulate itself,” she added.
詞匯:
privacy /'pr?v?s?/ n.隱私,秘密
breach /bri?t?/ n.破壞,違反
therapy /'θer?p?/ n.療法,治療
consent /k?n'sent/ n.答應,允許
confidentiality /,k?nf?,den??'?l?t?/ n.保密性
regulate /'regj?le?t/ vt.調整
注釋:
1.HIV (human immunodeficiency virus):人類免疫缺陷病毒
2.be concerned about:為……而擔心(憂慮、煩惱)
3. North Carolina:(美國)北卡羅來納州
4.One example was... with the patient’s child.例子之一就是某個護士由于擔心自己的孩子會與病人的孩子一起玩,所以就告訴自己的孩子,這個病人是HIV陽性的病人。本句中who 至the patient’s child 是nurse 的定語從句,其中that her patient was HIV-positive又是told的賓語從句;out of concern (出于擔心)是介詞短語,作told的狀語;而that her child would play with the patient’s child 則是concern的同位語從句。
5.one that providers might not consider breaches:即醫生可能不認為是泄露個人機密的一類。one是代詞,代替type,作the other type的同位語,that至breaches是one的定語從句,that在定語從句中作consider的賓語,breaches是賓語補足語。而provider則是指美國經保險公司認可為投保人看病的醫生。
練習:
1.All patients in the study refuse to receive any treatment because of the possibility to expose their HIV status.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
2.Worry about breaches in confidentiality of the HIV status has nothing to do with the curative effects on patients.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
3.Medical workers of an institution cannot freely provide their HTV-patients’ information to those of other institutions.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
4.Whether an HIV-infected patient agrees to other (not his)medical workers’ sharing the information about his HIV status is one of the rights given by the constitution.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
5.Most patients in the study strongly object to the breaches in the confidentiality of their HIV status.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
6.Quite a few patients will firmly defend their own right if such a breach occurs.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
7.Breaches in confidentiality are common in medical circles all over the world.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
答案與題解:
1.B第一段第二句說,“實際上,有些病人如此擔心以至于真的要放棄治療以防止個人隱私被泄露”,這里指的只是some,而不是all,故本題是錯誤的。
2.B第三段第一句說,“擔心泄密必定影響HIV感染者所接受的治療”,而本題卻說它“與療效無關”(have nothing to do with),顯然是錯誤的。
3.A第六段說,“法律允許同一單位的醫生共同使用病人資料,其他單位的醫生必須征得病人同意才能使用這些資料”,故本題是正確的。
4.C本題說“病人是否同意其他醫生使用他們的HIV病情資料是憲法賦予的權利之一”,通篇文章只在第六段說必須征得病人同意,而根本沒有提到憲法,應屬于沒有提到的。
5.A本題說“大多數病人強烈反對泄露他們的HIV病情”,這與第七段第二句所說的“他們還認為泄密的醫生應該受到懲罰”是相一致的,故應是正確的。
6.B本題說“如果發生泄密,許多病人(注意:quite a few是“相當多”的意思,不是a few:幾個)會堅決捍衛自己的權利”,這與第八段所說的“病人常常不愿意采取法律行動,因為這樣會進一步暴露其病情”是不一致的,故應是錯誤的。
7.C本題說“泄密在世界各國的醫務界都是常事”。文章第三段雖然指出大部分調查對象都有類似經歷或者認識有過類似經歷的人,但并沒有提及這種事是否在世界范圍內常常發生。
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