PUBHLTH 290B Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Paternalism, Public Health, Birth Weight
3 Feb 2017
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Sources of controversy: economic impact, individual liberty, moral and religious concerns, politics vs. science. Tragedy of the commons: exemplified in many environmental laws, (cid:862)freedo(cid:373) to pollute(cid:863) When can government restrict individual freedom: to prevent harm to others, paternalism acceptable for children, to protect individuals from their own actions? (opposed by libertarians, for the (cid:862)(cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)o(cid:374) good(cid:863) lots of room for controversy. Aids, stds, teenage pregnancy, and low birth weight babies are major u. s. public health concerns. Public health solutions are often viewed as promoting immoral behavior. Alcohol and drugs: such opposition may discourage scientists and funding agencies from conducting research on many important health problems. Politics vs science: there is always the possibility of tension, conservative control of federal government intensifies the conflict, criticism of bush administration exists for going too far in misrepresenting science to support its policies. Cdc was ordered to remove effective information from its website. Epa changed a section of a major report.
