Ethical analysis of communicating the risk of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

摘要

To the Editor-The University of Michigan Health System Adult Ethics Committee recently convened to discuss whether 57 patients should be informed of possible exposure to classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) after a neurosurgical patient was suspected of contracting CJD. Current routine sterilization procedures are believed to be ineffective against prions; thus, subsequent neurosurgical patients were potentially at risk of contracting CJD from contaminated instruments. Although eventually the patient definitively tested negative for CJD, the committee's discussion raised several key issues regarding communication of the risk of iatrogenic transmission of prion disease.