Case Studies: Beth Rivin

Sam Clark    |    Jonathan Gorstein - Abstract    |    Jonathan Gorstein - Outline    |    Anne Marie Kimbal    |    Ann Kurth
Martina Morris    |    Beth Rivin    |    Bettina Shell-Duncan    |    Clarence Spigner    |    Joe Zunt    |    Combined

HIV positive woman seeking care for a compound fracture

Bvitri Susalo is 26 years old and on the orthopedic ward of a big hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia getting prepared for her operation. She needs a surgical repair of a complex fracture which she sustained when her husband threw her down the stairs one night after a fight they had. This happens often. He comes home late at night and hurts her.

Bvitri doesn’t know if she should tell the doctor of her HIV positive status. She has been told by her activist friends that disclosing her status could hurt her and her family. After many hours of confusion about this, she finally decides to tell her surgeon that she is HIV positive.

Within an hour of the disclosure, the nurses rush in and tell her that she should go home. The surgeon has cancelled the operation and has left the hospital for his private practice. She calls her friend who works for an NGO called Yayasan Spiritia. They are a resource for people like Bvitri. Yayasan and many other organizations working for the rights of PLWA start to look for an orthopedic surgeon who will operate on Bvitri.