Medical and public health responsibility and AIDS (part one)

Abstract

The study examines, within Spanish law, medical and health-related liability concerning AIDS, starting from the complex human, sanitary, and legal problems raised by the syndrome. Drawing on the Spanish Constitution, the General Health Law, and prison legislation, the author examines the legal basis and concrete scope of the duty of medical assistance to patients, including those in custody, the grounds for criminal liability arising from failure to provide care (injury, denial of aid, failure to rescue) and the corresponding exculpatory causes, as well as the freedom to accept or refuse treatment and its limits on public-health grounds. He concludes that, although informed consent and non-discrimination remain the governing principles, coercive sanitary measures require an organic law and strict proportionality requirements, which are not presently justified with regard to AIDS.