Under State of Texas, Health and Safety Code, I order you to...

[WillyWump]

Saw this piece on the news last night, it's about a guy who knowingly infected another guy with HIV..

http://www.ksat.com/video/23625167/index.html

Sad story, but the interesting thing I found in the clip is a letter from Bexar County MetroHealth that anyone found to be HIV+ (by Metrohealth) is supposed to read and sign. The letter states, among other things, that you are ordered to disclose your status to any sexual partner before sexual contact occurs, and if you fail to do so court proceedings and possible quaratine may result.

Copy of letter:
"Dear [NAME]
I have reasonable cause to believe tha tyour diagnosis, based on information available at this time, is probably Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which is a serious communicable disease. By the Authority given to me by the State of Texas, Health and Safety Code, section 97.8, I hereby order you to do the following:
1. Notify any prospective partner of your positive HIV status before any sexual contact occurs.
2. Do not engage in any type of oral, anal or vaginal sex without using a latex condom.
3. Do not share needles for intravenous or intramuscular injection with any other person.

If you fail to follow these orders, court proceedings may be initiated against you as dictated by State Law. After a hearing, the Court may order you to be quarantined at the The Texas Center for infectious Diseases in San Antonio or another facility. The court proceedings could also include having you placed in the custody of the BExar County Sheriff until the hearing."

I'm sure this is something that is being done across the US and not only here in San Antonio, but Ive never signed a letter, and never heard of the letter.

All very interesting, Has anyone had to sign one of these?

-Will

[dixieman]

No... I'm sorry Ive never witnessed anything like this... but, I am aware of people intentially spreading this virus in the past and some even today? The United States is the Leader in the Industrial Countries as having the highest incidence in STD'S ... that's one reason I'm on pozpersonals... I do not want to have to explain about being poz to others... its just a given fact!

[mecch]

2. Do not engage in any type of oral, anal or vaginal sex without using a latex condom.

So, one could be in a relationship and there could be consent to oral sex without condoms, and then the relationship goes to hell, and then the ex could have one prosecuted for oral sex without a condom???

[tednlou2]

I can't believe they are making people sign a legal document that says you will not have unprotected sex.  It makes no mention about whether the other person knows and consents to unprotected sex.  That is getting a little too over the top.  I've talked about my partner wanting to perform oral on me as it is a very low risk.  He has done the research and knows that it is very rare to contract that way.  So, I could be hauled away for that?  I don't like him doing it anyway and I try to move things where I'm the one performing oral on him.  However, he consents to do it.

We had a discussion about these issue just a few weeks ago on the forums.  How would you prove you told the person?  I suggested video-taping the disclosure.  I said it sounds very silly and paranoid..not to mention would ruin the mood, but with legal documents like this, it seems very rational.  And, how would you prove you used a condom?  If someone was pissed at you and lied, it would be your word against theirs.  If they were HIV poz as well, how could you prove they must have already had it or got it later from someone else?  But as we've seen with the guy from Indiana, the person doesn't have to test poz.  As far as I know (unless new info as come to light), none of the women that man was with has tested poz.  I believe he is still in jail awaiting trial.

[Joe K]

This would be funny if it was not so seriously deranged. If he has the power to compel pozzies, then why does he need you to sigh a letter? Also, since he is threatening everyone required to sign the letter, with prosecution, your signature would be done under duress and generally not legally binding. Further, how does this bozo know, that every person he is sending a letter to is HIV poz. The wording is very suspicious and what happens when he sends one to a non-poz person? How will he explain his violation of HIPPA laws, because there is no law aimed at negative people, so he has violated their medical privacy.

I would suggest that Texas pozzies, start to make some noise, because rules/laws like these are only there to demonize poz folks and I'm sure these tactics would never stand up, under legal scrutiny.

[Buckmark]

If this guy is going around infecting people, knowingly and deliberately, that's despicable.

It's sad that the guy he infected believed him when he said he had no STDs, and used that in his decision to have unprotected sex with him.  What if the guy didn't know he was postive? 

There are disclosure laws in many US states, and I had thought Texas was one of them.  Disclosure is one thing.  However, signing a letter from the health department which "orders" you to follow certain procedures during sex, is something else entirely.  I don't know how a government official can make you sign such a letter, and I certainly wouldn't.  Is it really against the law for an HIV+ person to have sex without a condom?  I don't believe so.

I've never seen any communications like this up here in Williamson county, although I can well imagine Williamson jumping on the band wagon. 

Forget about helping a person who is HIV+.  The first thing the government wants to do is demonize them, and make sure they can place blame.

Regards,

Henry

[WillyWump]

I'm still trying to verify the existence and use of this letter in Bexar County. The few (poz) people Ive talked to here knew nothing about it. None of them has signed anything like this.

The part that is somewhat worrisome is the statement  "quarantined at the The Texas Center for infectious Diseases in San Antonio or another facility" for failure to follow the order. If there is a Governement document that threatens Quarantine based on failure to follow an "order" in a situation that would be difficult to prove, then there is great room for abuse. (Visions of concentration camps flit through my mind)

I agree this order would be near impossible to enforce, but I'm still wondering why BExar County would be behind something like this.

@BuckMark, I'm actually surprised Williamson County isnt on board with this yet, of course their remedy for failure to comply would be simply "Get a Rope".

-Will

[Hellraiser]

I was required to sign 6 bullets in Mississippi...


1 of them stated that I must always use condoms with sexual partners
1 of them stated that I must always disclose to any sexual partners
1 of them stated that if I was found to be the party responsible for infecting anyone I would be potentially jailed and/or quarantined

I can't make this shit up.  In another thread I mentioned that the interview with the health department was the worst part of the entire ordeal and I stand by that statement.

The guy was well intentioned but I felt like I had committed a crime by being infected.

[madbrain]

I'm sure this is something that is being done across the US and not only here in San Antonio, but Ive never signed a letter, and never heard of the letter.

All very interesting, Has anyone had to sign one of these?

-Will

Never had to sign this in California.

[madbrain]

Is it really against the law for an HIV+ person to have sex without a condom?  I don't believe so.

No. But in many places, it is against the law to do it without disclosing HIV status first.

[tednlou2]

Oh Texas, thank you for taking all the jokes away from Kentucky.  I just saw on the news tonight that Texas is going ahead with plans to rewrite text books.  They are down-playing slavery, civil rights movement, etc.  What is so bad is that many of those books end up in other states, because Texas is the biggest text book buyer.  I guess I'm getting off topic here, but they seem to be more and more nutty.  I believe a poll of Texans show a majority are in favor of breaking off into their own country.  If it wasn't a majority, it was at least half.

[weasel]

 

                   I had to do the  same as  Hellraiser !

                 That was in LAS VEGAS , NEVADA  ! When  I registered with the health Dept.
                 ALSO  I had to sign  in   POPLAR BLUFF , MISSOURI .
                  I find it gives the caseworkers   CONTROL of your life , Or so they think !
                  It is elleagle  to  pass HIV on  knowingly . I think we all know that !
                 OH YA , If you don't LISTEN to your case worker OR say anything they do not
                  like YOU LOOSE ! Simple as that .

                                                        Carl , The one that spoke out and lost my Ryan White
                 

               

                 

[Basquo]

Never heard of that; never had to sign a letter; never ever was contacted by any health authority.

I googled "The Texas Center for infectious Diseases" and it looks like a quarantine center for TB patients. Not much about HIV. It does mention "AIDS."

[aztecan]

Yikes! We New Mexicans are trapped between Texas and Arizona!

Talk about being trapped between a rock and a hard place!

I may live in a banana republic, but at least its a benevolent banana republic. For the record, there are no such letters here.

HUGS,

Mark

[PozBrian]

I managed to find the the Texas Health and Safety Code statues and guess what, Title 2, Subtitle D, Chapter 97, Section 97.008 does not exist. Chapter 97 is titled "Arthritis Control and Prevention" and only goes up to section 97.007.

There is a chapter on HIV but it is Chapter 85. Lots of subchapters and sections but none of them seem to require anything like this letter. I didn't read all of it however. Most of what I did read seemed reasonable. That said, I'm not a lawyer and even though the letter says the "Texas Health and Safety Code" it could be really be some where else.

My guess, that's a bunch of BS.

Health and Code:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/?link=HS

Chapter 85: ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.85.htm

Chapter 97: ARTHRITIS CONTROL AND PREVENTION
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/HS/htm/HS.97.htm

However, I do know that active duty Sailors are ordered to use condoms. I would assume that it is the same for the other services. There was a recent thread about a Sailor who was disciplined for that. It doesn't matter if HIV status was disclosed or not. The military is a different case.

[WillyWump]

I managed to find the the Texas Health and Safety Code statues and guess what, Title 2, Subtitle D, Chapter 97, Section 97.008 does not exist.

My guess, that's a bunch of BS.
 

HA! that's hillarious that the section doesnt even exist.

My guess is this is some letter that is stuck in someones file cabinet and they trot it out for Photo ops but they never really use it. I've yet to find someone here in SA that has signed anything close to this.

-Will

[Ann]

HA! that's hillarious that the section doesnt even exist.

It's pretty creepy, actually. If I lived in Texas, I'd be having someone's guts for garters for this false propaganda. It's an outrage. It's bad enough that someone created the document and is peddling it to the media, but that they couldn't even cite real statutes is beyond the pale. Sickening. Makes me think of witch-hunts.

[WillyWump]

Makes me think of witch-hunts.

Much agreed!

-Will