Fighting fear with facts: understanding the ethical and legal aspects of AIDS.

1. Ethical and legal issues relate to the healthcare professional's ethical and legal duty to treat the patient, maintain confidentiality of patient information, and protect themselves and warn other professionals. 2. Refusal to care for a patient with HIV infection because the disease is new or the professional's fears are great does not change the ethical considerations and obligations of the profession. 3. It is important to note that the rights of the patient to privacy and confidentiality cannot be selectively violated depending on the disease in question or the fears of the health-care professional. 4. It is not clear what a blood test for HIV antibodies demonstrates about the test subject because the test, by itself, is not diagnostic.