A study released in December by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Public Policy at UCLA has documented high levels of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS by health care professionals.

According to an article in Infection Control Today and reported on Poz.com, overall, 56 percent of skilled nursing facilities, 47 percent of obstetricians, and 26 percent of plastic and cosmetic surgeons in Los Angeles County would not accept HIV-positive patients for services commonly offered to HIV-negative patients. For example, when asked if he accepted HIV-positive patients, one healthcare worker responded, "We try not to. I'm just trying to be honest."

Setting aside the immediate humor that inclusion of plastic and cosmetic surgeons in a study done in L.A. inspires, the three medical specialties were selected because of the types of services HIV/AIDS patients require: skilled nursing as long-term survivors age, plastic surgery to repair facial wasting, and pediatricians to provide prenatal care to HIV-positive women.

More than half of the pediatricians contacted had a blanket policy of not accepting HIV-positive women into their practice in direct violation of the Americans for Disabilities Act. According to the study, "the 39% of obstetricians who stated that they would take an HIV-positive patient did so without hesitation. In most of these responses, the receptionists, office managers, or nurses whom the testers spoke with knew the answer immediately, indicating the existence of a general office policy."

The study indicates a real lack of training, if not compassion, by many health care professionals when dealing with HIV-positive pregnant women. "The most troubling of these rejections were the ones where receptionists expressed surprise or dismay when the caller confirmed that she was HIV-positive and pregnant and that she intended to continue the pregnancy. For example, one receptionist responded this way: 'I don't know, let me ask. Do you want to keep the baby?' After coming back to the phone, she reported, 'He will see you for gyn exams but will not handle pre-natal care.'"

Do you want to keep the baby? The statement reaks of compassion, doesn't it? Must be a very healing office in which to work and be treated.

"While the United States has made great advances during the past decade in treating HIV-disease, this study shows that we lag behind in eradicating HIV-discrimination," said Lee Badgett, Williams Institute research director. "The study indicates that strengthening current laws prohibiting HIV discrimination may not be enough," says Badgett. "We have laws on the books already. The problem may be inadequate training of heathcare professionals about HIV-disease and their legal obligations, as well as a lack of enforcement."