How the hell does this happen......From Australian Newspaper


HIV men got brothel work

14may04
TWO HIV-positive men gained work at a Melbourne brothel after a doctor gave them medical certificates clearing them of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), a medical board hearing was told today.

Counsel assisting the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria, Sara Hinchey, told today's hearing Dr Eric Salter saw the two men at his Prahran clinic on July 23 last year.

She said the men had consulted Dr Salter previously and he knew they were both HIV positive.

"(He) provided each patient with a certificate attesting they had been screened for and were free of STDs and were fit for work," Ms Hinchey said.

"He knew they were HIV positive and had expressed an interest in gaining employment in the sex industry," she said.

She said the men used the certificates to get work at an Elsternwick brothel, where they were employed as sex workers until August 4 when the owner discovered their HIV status.

Dr Salter's barrister John Goetz said issuing the certificates was an inadvertent mistake.

"He was shocked when the certificates were (later) brought to his attention and he saw what he'd written on them," Mr Goetz said.

He said there was no evidence that the doctor had acted intentionally in supplying the false certificates.

"There is no evidence it was done to gain favour with these two patients or that they offered him some kind of reward.

Dr Salter told the hearing he was under emotional stress at the time of the consultation, which was a busy and difficult one.

He said during the consultation the men told him that they wanted to work in the sex industry.

"I told them I thought this should be precluded because of their HIV status," Dr Salter said.

He said at the end of the consultation the men asked for certificates to show that they had undertaken screenings for sexually transmitted diseases.

Dr Salter said he didn't know why he had written that the results were okay and the men were fit for work.

"I can't understand how it was that that got through," Dr Salter said.

"I guess my attention must have been less than optimal on that day."

As a HIV specialist who had treated HIV-positive gay men for many years, Dr Salter said he acknowledged the risk his actions posed to the public.

"Working with HIV patients I have seen the destruction it causes to people's lives.

"You would not want to put the public at risk from anything such as this," he said.

Dr Salter has been suspended from practice since February, pending today's hearing.

The board is expected to deliver a decision later today.