Legal authority for HIV testing of adolescents

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in adolescents has been reported in a number of studies, but little attention has been given to the potential for an epidemic spread among inner city adolescents. Voluntary HIV testing and counseling without parental consent should be available to all adolescents, especially those at high risk of infection. Although physicians may fear legal liability as a consequence of testing and counseling adolescents without parental permission, legal authority to do so exists in most jurisdictions in the United States. The sources for that authority differ from state to state. This article analyzes these sources. Requirements for confidentiality or the disclosure of test results to parents vary from state to state, but in most instances there is no authority to disclose the confidence of a minor patient who has independently consented to his or her own treatment.