Zidovudine after occupational exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus

To the Editor: We write to challenge the Public Health Service's recent recommendation that a physician obtain written consent from a health care worker before prescribing zidovudine as prophylaxis after occupational exposure to HIV.¹ This new mandate constitutes a subtle attack on a physician's prescribing prerogatives and risks subverting the informed-consent process to a pro forma legal requirement. Presumably, the basis of the recommendation for written consent is that the label approved by the Food and Drug Administration for zidovudine does not include postexposure prophylaxis among the indications for use. However, the FDA has no mandate to approve each specific.