It was the first documented case of AIDS transmission from a health care professional to a patient, stunning the public and confounding even the experts. For the last 15 months of her life, she pleaded for mandatory testing of health care workers and patients before invasive procedures. The AIDS landscape has changed dramatically since Bergalis sat back in Acer's dental chair in December 1987. Powerful drugs have been developed that make AIDS less virulent, and the number of new AIDS cases reported nationwide each year has stabilized. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines still recommend barring HIV-infected doctors from performing certain invasive procedures without patient consent and approval from an expert review panel.
Some experts say that shows how tiny the risks are.
Others say they illustrate the success of increased infection control practices prompted by Acer's trail of misery. But to this day, no one can say just how Acer infected his patients with the deadly virus. It's a mystery that most AIDS experts acknowledge may never be solved. Now 44 and living in the lakeside town of Empire, Mich., Lisa Shoemaker is one of two survivors among the patients Acer infected. Her disease has remained relatively dormant.