JHSPH OpenCourseWare  >>  Ethical Issues in Public Health

This is a list of readings to accompany educational content form JHSPH. This is only a list; due to copyright restrictions, users must individually locate any materials they wish to use. If you wish to locate any of the readings, you may find PubMed helpful.

Readings



SESSION # TOPIC READINGS
1 Ethics: Theory and Practice

Required:
Beauchamp, T. and Walters, L. Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 6 th Edition. CA: Wadsworth Publishers. 2003. Chapter 1, pp. 1-37.

Gostin L. "Public Health Law, Ethics, and Human Rights: Mapping the Issues." In Gostin L. (ed) Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader. University of California Press. 2002. pp 10-15 (excerpt on public health ethics).

Recommended :
Macklin, R. Against Relativism. NY: Oxford University Press. 1999. Chapter 1, pp. 1-23.

Little, MO. "Why a Feminist Approach to Bioethics?" Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. 6(1): 1-18.

Christakis, N. "The Distinction Between Ethical Pluralism and Ethical Relativism: Implications for the Conduct of Trans-cultural Research" in Vanderpool, H., Ed. The Ethics of Research Involving Human Subjects. MD: University Publishing Group Inc. 1996. Chapter 11. pp:261-280.
2 Public Health Ethics

Required:
American Public Health Association. Principles for the Ethical Practice of Public Health. New Orleans: Public Health Leadership Society. 2003.

Kass, N. "Toward an Ethics of Public Health."American Journal of Public Health. 91(11): 1776-1782. 2001.

Childress, J., Faden, R., Gaare, R., Gostin, L., Kahn, J., Bonnie, R., Kass, N., Mastroianni, A., Moreno, J., Nieburg, P. "Public Health Ethics: Mapping the Terrain." Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. 30(2): 170-8. 2002.

Norman Daniels and James E. Sabin. "Accountability for Reasonableness", Chapter 4. In: Setting Limits Fairly. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Recommended:
Faden, R., Kass, N., and Powers, M. "Warrants for Screening Programs: Public Health, Legal and Ethical Frameworks" in Faden, R., Geller, G., and Powers, M., Eds. AIDS, Women and the Next Generation: Towards a Morally Acceptable Public Policy for HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1991. Chapter 1: pp: 3-26.

Beauchamp, D. "Community: The Neglected Tradition of Public Health. "Hastings Center Report. 15(6):28-36. 1985.

Mann, J. "Medicine and Public Health, Ethics, and Human Rights." Hastings Center Report. 27(3)6-13. 1997.

O'Neill, O. "Public Health or Clinical Ethics: Thinking Beyond Borders." Ethics and International Affairs. 16(2): 35-45. 2002.
3 Social Justice and the Right to Health Care

Required:
Daniels, Norman. "Justice, Health, and Health Care." In: Medicine and Social Justice. Rosamond Rhodes, Margaret P. Battin, and Anita Silvers, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 6-24. 2002.

Hessler, Kristen. And Allen Buchanan. "Specifying the Content of the Human Right to Health Care." In: Medicine and Social Justice. Rosamond Rhodes, Margaret P. Battin, and Anita Silvers, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 84-96.

Recommended:
Beauchamp, T., and Childress, J. Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 5 th edition. NY: Oxford University Press. 2001. Chapter 6. pp.225-282.

Beauchamp , DE . "Public Health as Social Justice." Inquiry 13(1): 3-14. 1976.
4 Autonomy, Civil Liberties, and Public Health

Required:
Bayer R & Moreno J. "Health promotion: ethical and social dilemmas of government policy." Health Aff (Millwood). 1986 Summer;5(2):72-85

Faden RR, Faden AI. "The ethics of health education as public health policy." Health Educ Monogr. 1978 Summer; 6(2):180‑97.

Kersh R. and Morone J. "The Politics of Obesity: Seven Steps to Government Action." Health Affairs. 21(6): 142-153.
5 Influenza Group Project

Stand on Guard for Thee: Ethical Considerations in Preparedness Planning for Pandemic Influenza. A Report of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics Pandemic Influenza Working Group. November, 2005.

Available: http://www.utoronto.ca/jcb/home/documents/pandemic.pdf
6 The Ethics of Measuring Health

Required:
Gold MR, Stevenson D, Fryback DG. "HALYs and QALYs and DALYs, Oh My: Similarities and Differences in Summary Measures of Population Health." Annu Rev Public Health , 23:115-34. 2002.

Brock DW. "Ethical Issues in the Use of Cost Effectiveness Analysis for the Prioritization of Health Resources." In Handbook of Bioethics: Taking Stock of the Field from a Philosophical Perspective, George Khushf (ed). Springer-Verlag Telos (March, 2004).

Recommended :
Murray CJL, Salomon JA, Mathers CD. "A Critical Examination of Summary Measures of Population Health." In Summary Measures of Population Health: Concepts, Ethics, Measurement and Applications. Christopher Murray, Joshua Salomon, Colin Mathers, & Alan Lopez (eds). World Health Organization. 2002.

7 Poverty, Power, and Health Inequalities (PART I)

Required:
Gwatkin DR. "Health inequalities and the health of the poor: what do we know? What can we do?" Bull World Health Organ. 2000; 78(1):318.

Pogge T. "Responsibilities for poverty-related ill health." Ethics Int Aff, 2002; 16(2)71-9.

Recommended:
Nagel, T. "Equality" in Mortal Questions. Cambridge University Press; Reissue edition (May 2, 1991). Chapter 8, pp 106-128.

8 Poverty, Power, and Health Inequalities (PART II)

Powers, M. and Faden R. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: An Ethical Analysis of When and How They Matter." In: Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. 2002. IOM Report.

Singer P. One World: The Ethics of Globalisation. Chapters 1 & 5. 2002.

Recommended:
Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Executive Summary. Institute of Medicine. 2002.