Detroit Free Press Profiles Case of Foster Parents Who Discovered Infant Had AIDS, Congenital Syphilis
The Detroit Free Press on Monday profiled the case of Oakland County, Mich., foster parents who discovered eight months after taking an infant girl into their home that she had AIDS. The girl's case is an "extreme example of a breakdown in communications" between the medical community and foster care services, according to the Free Press. Michigan law requires that a woman provide consent for herself and her infant to be tested for HIV, but hospital records do not indicate that the woman was asked to consent to testing, according to the Free Press. Although the girl's foster parents were aware that the infant had tested positive for cocaine exposure and negative for various sexually transmitted diseases, they later learned that she also had pneumonia, congenital syphilis and AIDS. The couple adopted the girl on Nov. 23, 2004, which was National Adoption Day (Kresnak, Detroit Free Press, 1/3). The complete article is available online.
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.