October 2, 2008

Private Practice Episode Dissects Bioethics of HIV

In its October 1 season premiere, ABC’s medical drama Private Practice explored HIV/AIDS from a bioethical perspective, The Associated Press reports.

According to the article, the characters in the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off will face difficult decisions that explore and challenge their moral principles. In the premiere, a teenage patient—who is HIV positive and doesn’t know it—shares that he plans to become sexually active for the first time.

“We look at the things that have ourselves and our family members and friends buzzing—the issues that people are talking about in terms of right or wrong and the laws, ethics and social morays that are put on us in terms of how we conduct ourselves,” said Elizabeth Klaviter, a writer and researcher for the primetime show.

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Previous Comments:

Nicci, Boston, 2008-10-08 16:52:27
I agree with you in that it was misrepresentation, but I think very often today, HIV is downplayed. "The new diabetes" one show called it. It is an extremely big deal that is not a death sentence, but a life sentence.

Trevor Brown, Brooklyn, 2008-10-07 10:31:04
I saw this episode the ethical question was interesting. I was not pleased with the fact that the Pediatrician who was overseeing the HIV positive young man's health was saying. If he had sex with his girlfriend he would "kill her". I think its this kind of misrepresentation that give HIV the stigma it still has, people are not "dying" from HIV in first world countries, the disease has become totally manageable. This mis-information keeps the fear going. I think Private Practice could be better