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Public Health

Bioethics Forum Essay

Should Ethicists Be at the Table in Public Health Policy Deliberations?

In a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ezekiel Emanuel and colleagues clearly illustrate the relevance of ethical considerations to policy deliberations concerning public health emergencies. But do ethicists belong at the table?
Read Should Ethicists Be at the Table in Public Health Policy Deliberations?
Bioethics Forum Essay

Philanthropy is Not Enough: Oil and Gas Giants Must Consider Medical Ethics

Given the well-known environmental and health risks of oil and gas drilling, oil and gas giants that enter developing nations routinely offset these risks with charitable investments. Are these investments sufficient? Do the funds go where they are needed? Answering this question raises ethical issues that need greater attention.
Read Philanthropy is Not Enough: Oil and Gas Giants Must Consider Medical Ethics
Bioethics Forum Essay
bouquets of colorful flowers layed on sidewalk along with balloons

Public Health Officials and Gun Rights Advocates Must Work Together

In rural Virginia, where I live, there is strong support for the right to own and carry guns. For more than a decade, I have shared public health, mental health, and other scientific findings with the leadership of a statewide Second Amendment rights advocacy group, especially regarding the leading number of deaths by firearms: suicide. We do not agree on what firearms laws and policies might be or do to prevent suicides, but we have sustained our conversations and respectfully learned from each other’s point of view. Such conversations are hard to have.
Read Public Health Officials and Gun Rights Advocates Must Work Together
Bioethics Forum Essay
woman of color holding a yellow sign with the words "thoughts" and "prayers" crossed out, and the word "action" is circled in red marker

Treating Gun Violence as a Public Health Threat: Not Exactly What We Meant

This week, the United States saw two momentous public health events: one million deaths attributed to Covid and the 198th mass shooting of the year. Both the pandemic and gun shootings are threats to public health that are not being adequately addressed.
Read Treating Gun Violence as a Public Health Threat: Not Exactly What We Meant
Bioethics Forum Essay

Rugged American Individualism is a Myth, and It’s Killing Us

The American myth of rugged individualism, which often means “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps,” is outdated, was never completely accurate. It is on full display during the coronavirus pandemic, contributing to cases and deaths.
Read Rugged American Individualism is a Myth, and It’s Killing Us
Bioethics Forum Essay
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C.D.C.’s Latest Mask Guidance: Science, Politics, and Public Health

The C.D.C.'s latest policy guidance that people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus virus no longer need to wear face masks indoors gets the science right, but policymaking wrong.
Read C.D.C.’s Latest Mask Guidance: Science, Politics, and Public Health
Bioethics Forum Essay

Bruce Springsteen: The Latest Celebrity DWI

It was especially disappointing to read about Bruce Springsteen’s recent arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Here's hoping the famous rocker will use his arrest to refocus attention on a risky and dangerous behavior that is thoroughly preventable.
Read Bruce Springsteen: The Latest Celebrity DWI
Bioethics Forum Essay

Science in the Biden White House: Eric Lander, Alondra Nelson, and the Legacy of Lewis Thomas

Science has replaced populism in the White House. For the first time, the president's science advisor will be elevated to cabinet rank. There are other good omens, as well.
Read Science in the Biden White House: Eric Lander, Alondra Nelson, and the Legacy of Lewis Thomas
Bioethics Forum Essay

Motivated Ignorance: A Challenge for Science Communication and Democracy

Many people are deeply interested in the political process and awash in relevant information., but nevertheless often grossly misinformed, holding confident but unfounded opinions at odds with widely accessible evidence The recent riot at Capitol Hill is just one illustration–albeit a horrifying one–of such misinformation and its potential consequences. The anti-vaccine movement is another example.
Read Motivated Ignorance: A Challenge for Science Communication and Democracy
Bioethics Forum Essay
white man holding a white sign stating in red lettering "I will never wear a face muzzle, I will never take the vaccine"

Resisting Public Health Measures, Then and Now

One of the most surprising aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic for those of us who teach the history of public health is how unwilling many Americans have been to adopt health measures to protect others. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, tens of millions of Americans traveled, despite the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged them to stay home and the overall death rate from the coronavirus is approaching 300,000. Should recent events make us revisit aspects of the history of public health? And how can these stories inform future public health efforts during pandemics?
Read Resisting Public Health Measures, Then and Now
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