Being a doctor, you get very intimate glimpses into other people’s lives. This is one of the reasons ethics and objectivity become so important. People tell you about their affairs, their substance abuse, their hopes, their failures…
It’s not uncommon for me to diagnose gonorrhea in a patient and have him ask me what he should tell his wife. This is where an ability to separate your personal morals from public health concerns comes in handy. I have had many heated discussions with doctors of a more religious bent on this issue.
Untreated, gonorrhea can cause many problems, including infertility, in women. Also, it can continue to spread from person to person. I treat nearly everyone whom I even suspect of having an STD.
So, when a young man asked me what to tell his girlfriend, I told him that I basically didn’t care, as long as he found a way to get her into the clinic. In my book, anything that gets the partner evaluated and treated is fair. Chances are, if he slept around on her (or vice versa), it will happen again, and some day they will figure it out…no matter, it’s not my business.
My business is to seek out and destroy the disease to prevent it from injuring the patient and spreading to others. If he wants to tell her that he has some innocent infection that requires her to see a doctor, fine. If he is too afraid to talk to her, she won’t get treated. Ethically and legally, I can’t just call her up and say, “You’re scumbag boyfriend has the clap. Get in here for a shot.” So I’m stuck relying on a lying, cheating spouse.
I agree with you that the priority is to treat these individuals that are infected. They will know who was with whom, and they can notify their partners in any way that gets them to the doctor. It’s a good reminder, it doesn’t pay to play. I would leave judgment of their actions to someone other than myself.