Question from NBME2

[edved100]

Hey Gang,

I did the NBME2 a couple of days ago and came across the question that goes something like this:

45 Y.O.M comes in blah blah blah...was diagnosed with gonorrhea and addmitted to extra marital affairs. The patient goes onto say that he did not want his wife to know. The guys wife calls a day or two later and she wants to know why he had come into the office to see you. What do you say?? The options where something like this

a) "you should set up marriage counciling"
b) " I can not disscuss the nature of the visit without your husbands permission"
c) " You should schedule a GYN appointment"
d) " you should ask your husband if he has been having an affair"

If i remember correctly that was it...at any rate, the the answers that i pulled off of this forrum said that the answer to this Q is choice B. I thought by law we are required to contact a spouse if your patient has an infectious disease that could be passed on to the spouse. Could someone please set me straight on this?? Thanks a million!! And continued luck with everyones studies!!!!!
edved

[jameslynton]

I think it is B - because there are all sorts of laws on STD's. I know in Georgia at one time a MD could not say you had a STD because it was considered slander. So you had to say it was like an STD or not say what it was. Informed consent is a big issue and privacy are pretty touchy things because of the legal part of it.

[md90]

you can not talk of the husband's condition without his approval; reporting the case to the department of health is okay..b/c it can be done without naming who the patient is...

[emt036]

According to the Kaplan notes, you must tell the wife of the husband's STD, as it is a threat to her health, so she may be tested. You don't have to tell the wife of the circumstances on how he obtained the STD, so I would go with C.