A doctor conducting a joint consultation for HIV testing prior to marriage must advise the couple about the statutory requirement for consent to disclosure of results, the manner of disclosure, and the possibility of discordant results; failure to do so constitutes a breach of duty. The deception of a patient by a third party does not break the chain of causation where the doctor's breach made the patient vulnerable to that deception. Sullivan v Gordon damages for loss of capacity to care for a child conceived after the plaintiff knew of her HIV-positive status are not recoverable where the plaintiff made a fully informed decision to have the child, on normative causation grounds including considerations of indeterminate liability. Whether consent under s 17(3)(a) of the Public Health Act 1991 (NSW) may be tacit or must be express was left open by the majority.
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