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.