Public Health Law and Ethics

Public Health Law and Ethics defines these fields for a new generation. This bold and updated edition probes how the Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the legal landscape for public health practice. Through incisive analysis of public health legislation, judicial opinions, and scholarly research, this accessible primer

• articulates the scope and limits of governmental powers and duties to protect the public's health,
• builds a case for why social justice must be prioritized as a core value of public health ethics,
• examines the role of the courts in striking down democratically enacted laws, and
• covers today’s most pressing health issues, such as chronic diseases, opioid overdoses, gun violence, disability rights, sexual and reproductive autonomy, and racial and gender equity.

The book creates a framework for ensuring public health interventions are based on and consistent with ethical values, revealing complex answers to the essential question of what community members owe one another when it comes to health.

Contents

List of Illustrations 
Foreword 
Oxiris Barbot, MD
Preface to Fourth Edition 
Acknowledgments 

PART ONE. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS 

1. Public Health Law and Ethics: A Theory and Definitions 
I. Public Health Law and Ethics: Definitions and Core Values 
II. The Role of Law in Public Health Problem-Solving 
III. The Legitimate Scope of Public Health Law 
2. Risk Regulation: Science, Values, and Ethics 
I. General Justifications for Coercive Public Health Regulation 
II. Risk Assessment as a Foundation for Public Health Decisions 
III. Systemic Evaluation of Risk Regulation 

PART TWO. LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

3. Individual Rights and Public Health 
I. Individual Rights as Limits and Duties
II. Historical Approaches to Balancing Individual Rights against Public Health: Jacobson 
and Lochner 
III. Limits on Public Health Powers in the Modern Constitutional Era 
IV. The Court’s Originalist Turn: Implications for Public Health 
4. Public Health Powers and Structural Limits 
I. The Public Health Powers of Federal, State, and Local Governments 
II. Separation of Powers among the Branches of Government 
III. Private Enforcement of Federal Law against State and Local Governments: Standing and 
Sovereign Immunity 
IV. Public Health Governance in a Divided Nation 
5. Administrative Agencies and Local Governments 
I. Public Health Agencies and the Rise of the Administrative State 
II. Administrative Law: The Powers and Limits of Executive Agencies 
III. Local Government Authority 
IV. Delegation, Democracy, Expertise, and Good Governance
 
PART THREE. MODES OF INTERVENTION 

6. Direct Regulation and Deregulation for the Public’s Health and Safety 
I. A Brief History of Public Health Regulation 
II. Approaches to Regulation 
III. Deregulation: Removing Legal Barriers to Effective Public Health Intervention 
7. Tort Liability as Indirect Regulation 
I. Major Theories of Tort Liability 
II. The Causation Element: Epidemiology in the Courtroom 
III. The Public Health Value of Tort Litigation 
IV. The Tobacco Wars: A Case Study 
V. The Tort Reform Movement
8. Taxation, Spending, and the Social Safety Net 
I. Taxation and Incentives 
II. The Power of Spending 
III. Taxation and Spending to Promote Access to Health Care 
IV. Case Study: Children’s Dental Health 

PART FOUR. PUBLIC HEALTH LAW AND ETHICS IN CONTEXT 

9. Screening, Surveillance, and Public Health Research 
I. Public Health Screening 
II. Public Health Surveillance 
III. Public Health Research 
IV. Privacy, Confidentiality, and Data Security 
V. Privacy and Public Health 
10. Infectious Disease Prevention and Control 
I. Vaccination to Protect the Population from Disease 
II. Antimicrobial Therapy to Treat Individuals and Prevent Onward Transmission 
III. Nonpharmacuetical Interventions and Social-Ecological Strategies 
11. Public Health Emergencies 
I. The Historical Impact of Public Health Emergencies 
II. Structural Constraints in Emergency Management 
III. Managing Disruption and Displacement 
IV. Development, Distribution, and Acceptance of Medical Countermeasures 
V. Nonpharmaceutical Interventions and Community Mitigation 
VI. Facing Future Emergencies as a Deeply Divided Nation 
12. Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Management 
I. Evolving Public Health Strategies 
II. The Information Environment and the First Amendment 
III. The Marketplace: Product and Retailer Regulation 
IV. The Built Environment 
V. The Social Environment 
13. Injury Prevention 
I. Key Concepts in Injury Prevention 
II. Worker Safety 
III. Motor Vehicle and Consumer Product Injuries 
IV. Current Issues in Injury Prevention 
V. Firearm Injuries and the Second Amendment 
14. Health Justice 
I. Challenges: Politics, Money, Power, and Trust 
II. Social Justice Movements and Public Health 
III. The Future of Public Health Law and Ethics