GP reprimanded for testing patients for HIV without consent

A GP in England who arranged for the blood of five patients to be tested for HIV without their consent was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and severely reprimanded by the General Medical Council last week.

Dr John Nicholls admitted that he was wrong not to seek explicit consent from the patients but said that he believed he was acting in their best interests.

Sir Donald Irvine, chairing the professional conduct committee, told him: “Such a benevolent paternalistic attitude has no place in modern medicine. …