A Job for Jack Bauer

Is this for real? This fellow, Mr. Stimpson, a 25-year-old Scottish man, was diagnosed with HIV by the Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare Trust.

Not altogether strange. Until you add in the fact that the same health care orgainzation then tested him again and he was negative.

They've retested and have even issued comment that his tests are accurate...he tested positive and then negative. They stop short of saying he'd somehow been cured...but that's exactly what the health professional world is wondering. Even Stimpson--who even sued the testing place, thinking he'd initially been misdiagnosed--now wonders if there's not something in his blood that might hold the key to beating AIDS.

But there seems to be some question about further testing. So far, according to The Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare Trust, Mr. Stimpson has refused to submit to further testing. AIDS experts and researchers are making public calls for the further testing.

Now...certainly this could just be a bad test. Either of the tests could have been bad. Could also have been a "miracle", for lack of a better term...just one of those medical mysteries where something incurable gets cured. There's not necessarily any reason to jump to the conclusion that this man has somehow been cured of HIV. But it's worth exploring, right? But what do we do when the man himself doesn't want to submit to more testing?

The side of me that likes to be funny says that we should unleash Jack Bauer on him...pump him full of sodium pentathol...and get the tests done for the betterment of world society. Or Bono...he's a champion for the AIDS cause...maybe Mr. Stimpson is a huge U2 fan who might be persuaded to help society after a visit from a rock god.

But in all seriousness... is there any legal way to force this guy to get further tests? I'm no lawyer...and I would definitely land on the side of protecting civil liberties...I don't think a government should force a person to get a bunch of medical tests....

...unless there's a possibility (no matter how slight) that it could lead to a cure for AIDS. Maybe it's not as grey an area as I'm making it out to be...but doesn't somebody who had HIV and then somehow beat it have some responsibility to the rest of the millions of AIDS sufferers in the world?

Maybe this is apples and oranges, but if somebody said they knew where Osama was hiding...the government would step in and forcefully get that information from them. In times of disease outbreak...the government would quarentine people and keep them from leaving their homes or their towns...for the betterment of society. I don't want to stomp on Stimpson's individual rights...but is there anything that can be done? I know we have some lawyers that read the blog...and I hope I'm not just being naive...but this is a way bigger issue than just this guy's right to not get tests done. But unfortunately, I suspect there's no legal precedent to do anything at all. And if there isn't...well...I guess I don't want to lead the charge in forcing people to do things they don't have to...but it would certainly be a shame. AIDS is real. I'm as afraid of terrorism as the next guy...but it's still a "possibility" as compared to the tragedy of AIDS (especially in Africa), which is a here-and-now reality.

I don't know. This is a classic case of me reading something online and then blogging about it before I've really thought it out. I'm curious to know why this man wouldn't want to help out. I'm curious to know what people think.