Public Health Laws and Policies Case 3

Public Health Ethics

Case Assignment

For this Case Assignment, write a 3- to 4-page essay in which you address the following:

Discuss the application of the following ethical theories/principles
to public health. Provide recent examples within the field of public
health which are consistent or inconsistent with these principles:

• Utilitarianism
• Distributive Justice
• Paternalism

Selgelid (2009) wrote:

While public health ethicists often claim that the least restrictive
alternative should be used to achieve the public health goal in
question, I argue that a plausible but under-recognized idea is that the
least restrictive alternative might sometimes involve improvement of
global health via redistributive taxation—i.e., rather than coercive
social distancing measures.

What did he mean by this? Provide arguments for and against his position.

Assignment Expectations

Length: Assignment should be from 3 to 4 pages (750 to 1000 words) in length. 4 cited sources from required reading.

Required Reading

Read Chapter 7 of the following text:
Wing, K. R., & Gilbert, B. (2007). The law and the public’s health. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.

Ethical Theories and Principles. (2011).

Baum, N., Gollust, S., Goold, S., & Jacobson, P. (2007). Looking
ahead: Addressing ethical challenges in public health practice:1. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35(4), 657-667.

Burris, S., Wagenaar, A. C., Swanson, J., Ibrahim, J. K., Wood, J.,
& Mello, M. M. (2010). Making the case for laws that improve health:
A framework for public health law research. The Milbank Quarterly 88(2) 169–210.

Cassatly, M. G. (2012). The four critical drivers of healthcare reform. The Journal of Medical Practice Management: MPM, 28(3), 162-3.

Clemans-Cope, L., Kenney, G. M., Buettgens, M., Carroll, C., &
Blavin, F. (2012). The Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions will
reduce differences in uninsurance rates by race and ethnicity. Health Affairs, 31(5), 920-30.

Selgelid, M. J. (2009). A moderate pluralist approach to public health policy and ethics. Public Health Ethics, 2(2), 195-205. Available via EBSCO.