Public Health Law and Ethics: Power, Duty, Restraint

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 sound scientific evidence and consistent with ethical values, revealing complex answers to the essential question of what community members owe one another when it comes to health.

Lindsay F. Wiley is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Health Law and Policy Program at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Lawrence O. Gostin is Distinguished University Professor, Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law, Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights, and Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University. He is also Professor of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.