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Three cases in which doctors in Glasgow were diagnosed as having HIV infection were all handled differently in relation to telling patients and the media. In the first patients were not told because the doctor had been doing administrative work and there was thought to be no risk to patients; although the media did report the case, it accepted the assurances given. In the second case, where a doctor had done many jobs in different specialities and places, the media identified the doctor before most patients had been informed: most calls to the helpline subsequently set up by the health authority were from patients who had not been treated by this doctor. This episode, however, allowed the incident team to be prepared for the next case, enabling the helpline to be established swiftly. In this case the doctor voluntarily identified himself, and this served to allay public fears and reduce the number of inappropriate calls to the helpline. The risk of transmission of HIV from an infected health care worker to a patient lies between 1 in 4000 and 1 in 40000.1 HIV antibody tests have been performed on more than 22000 patients treated by infected health care workers.2 3 Although more than 100 patients tested positive, in only one incident was the health care worker, a dentist, implicated as the possible source of infection.2 3 The United Kingdom guidelines on the management of HIV infected health care workers encompass three main principles: a duty to protect patients, a duty of confidentiality towards infected health care workers, and the concept that the risk of HIV transmission is restricted to certain “exposure prone” procedures from which infected staff should refrain (see box).4 5 There have been three recent incidents in Scotland involving HIV infected doctors, all in …

Heath seems to be haunted with nightmarish visions of Drs Mengele and Shipman, together with fears that a “malign” future government may …

After initial training in Heidelberg and Berlin, Hanns Martin Goldberg left Germany in the enforced emigration of the Hitler period. Thanks to the support of University College, London, he was able …

Adam was born in January 1990. His early development was uneventful though slow by comparison with that of his older sister. At 15 months, when Adam received his measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, he was beginning to articulate two word utterances. After 18 months, however, Adam began to show signs which gave my wife and me cause for concern. He became distant, disinterested, and inattentive, and he started to flap his arms and twirl. Our concerns, which had initially been greeted by some friends and professionals as those of neurotic parents were confirmed by experts at the time of Adam's second birthday. Our son was autistic and the regression experienced during his second year was characteristic of the condition. The cause, we were told, was likely to be genetic though environmental factors could not be excluded. One reaction which we, and other parents in similar circumstances, had was to search for a possible cause. Had there been an infection …

EDITOR,—In his article on tobacco control Simon Chapman emphasises the importance of limiting advertisements for tobacco, particularly those advertisements that are attractive to young people.1 I would like to draw attention to one form of advertising that has …