Should physicians be required to disclose personal information about themselves to patients as part of obtaining informed consent from patients?

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The question of a physician disclosing personal information regarding his/her infectious disease status, drug use (including alcohol), or anything else is framed by the legal and ethics communities as provider right to privacy versus patient risk. The short answer regarding HIV status is that most states require the health care provider consult with a panel regarding their HIV-positive status for guidance, but mandatory disclosure to patients is not required. This is based on a large body of research looking at transmission rates between providers and patients which uniformly have found miniscule risk of transmission, even with high exposure risk procedures. These findings also point out mandatory precautions must be observed, e.g., double gloving by surgeons. It is significant that these same considerations apply to Hepatitis B & C positive providers, and concern is expressed for other diseases such as TB. The issue for providers is stigmatization by ………………..