AIDS and Governmental Liability: State and Local Government Guide to Legislation, Legal Issues and Liability.

• Author: Weber, David W.

Despite its title, which suggests a broad treatment of HIV issues confronting state and local governments, this publication of the Urban, State and Local Government Law Section of the American Bar Association limits its coverage almost exclusively to HIV as an issue in employment and in providing health care.

In the introduction, the authors concede that not all issues confronting state and local governments are covered, but they explain that their focus is on the issues that present the greatest potential liability. Readers must look elsewhere for an overview of the legal aspects of other important, and perhaps more controversial, issues that typically involve state and local governments: needle exchange programs, housing programs for people with AIDS, testing sex offenders and enhanced criminal penalties for knowing transmission of HIV.

Divided into four chapters, AIDS and Government Liability covers HIV testing and confidentiality, workplace issues, AIDS and health care providers, and liability for HIV transmission in prisons and jails. Each chapter is thoroughly documented with endnote citations to legal authorities and other sources. The appendices reprint crucial materials pertaining to HIV: the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for preventing HIV transmission in health care settings, their recommendations on HIV-infected health care workers performing exposure-prone medical and surgical procedures, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's workplace safety rule on blood-borne...