[Myrddin]

I recall a U.S. dentist who had an AIDS infected patient who wanted a tooth extraction. The dentist agreed to do it at a local hospital facility, but not in his privately owned office. A tyrant in black robes said his private office was a "public accommodation" because he used it to serve patients from the "public". He had no right to insist on performing a bloody surgery on someone infected with an incurable, communicable disease in a hospitable facility instead of contaminating his private office space.

The dentist essentially said, "piss off, I'm closed for business".

[toothfairy86]

A dentist is only permitted to refuse treating an AIDS patient if the procedure that needs to be done is beyond the dentist’s “scope of expertise”. I personally know many general dentists who do not do extractions and always refer them to the oral surgeon. Many AIDS patients are medically complex and have other health issues as well. This dentist legitimately offered to treat this patient in a hospital setting. We know now that this situation was a set-up from a group of AIDS activists. Unfortunately, the judge sided with the patient and sentenced the dentist to perform FREE dental treatment for 50 HIV+ patients. Dentists are not exempt from treating patients with HIV or hepatitis in their private offices. “Universal precautions” for infection control are supposed to be in place to prevent transmission of disease, whether you know someone is infected with something or not.