Professor Leslie Wolf's Newly Released Study of CDC's HIV Testing Policy Attracts Widespread Interest
October 16, 2007
Professor Leslie Wolf While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended more routine HIV testing for many Americans, most states still have laws on the books that limit how those tests are administered, according to a study co-authored by a research group led by Georgia State University College of Law Professor Leslie Wolf.
The CDC recommended in 2006 that Americans between ages 13 and 64 be routinely tested during medical exams unless, after notification from their doctor, they refused. But more than 30 states, according to Professor Wolf, have laws that require specific consent for HIV testing. Almost half of those states, the study found, require consent in writing.
"The majority [of states] still have the old recommendations and the ones that have changed them were retaining at least some of the requirements [for pre-test counseling and consent]," Wolf said.
The study, published Wednesday (Oct. 10) in the online journal Public Library of Science (PLoS One) and co-authored by Alexis Donoghoe of the University of San Francisco School of Law and Tim Lane of the University of California's San Francisco Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, examines the laws in many states that require consent to testing and pre-test counseling, which has been seen as an important educational tool in preventing the spread of the disease. The study, first reported by the Associated Press, has received widespread coverage from media outlets throughout the U.S. and in many nations throughout the world.
"Prevention remains the best strategy against HIV," the study's authors write. "Research has previously demonstrated that counseling is effective in helping people change their behaviors to prevent transmission of HIV."
Wolf contends that there may be a way to achieve CDC's goal of more routine testing without eliminating the requirements some states still have in place.
"I do think that there needs to be additional research to understand what's happening in the [individual] states," she said. "There have been concerns that there's still a whole lot of stigma about HIV, as well as losing the opportunity to engage in education about HIV and prevention," she said.
Professor Wolf joined the Georgia State University College of Law faculty this past August. Her research and teaching focuses on the areas of health law, public health law and ethics, with a particular focus on research ethics. Before joining the College of Law faculty Professor Wolf conducted research at the University of California at San Francisco medical school, where she also taught medical and research ethics and served on the UCSF institutional review board. She also previously was selected as a Greenwall Fellow in Biotheics and Public Policy and as a Greenwall Faculty Fellow at John Hopkins University.