Thinking, Talking and Acting about Public Health Ethics in the COVID-19 Pandemic

31 Pages Posted: 27 Jun 2022

See all articles by Jonathan Montgomery

Jonathan Montgomery

University College London - Faculty of Laws

Kenneth Kaufman

Rutgers University, New Brunswick - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Richard Williams

University of South Wales

Date Written: April 9, 2021

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the discipline of public ethics has struggled to find a consensus on how best to conceptualise the challenges. The transactional nature of clinical ethics is too limited to capture the range of ethically relevant concerns. Although public health ethics is broader, it fails to provide a convincing framework for the deeply political implications of the response to the pandemic. They go beyond health issues and raise questions of justice.

We consider the demands of fairness for all, corrective justice for past structural wrongs, and utopian approaches that draw on our ideas about the ideal society. The lack of an agreed framework for ethical analysis is exacerbated by dwindling faith in expertise and a degradation of trust in media sources to present reliable, accurate information. These matters have undermined the quality of public reason. Although both the USA and UK had well-established anticipatory governance for pandemic influenza, it was not followed when COVID-19 took hold.

The pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of our collective thinking, our readiness to discuss the issues rationally and effectively, and our ability to act effectively in the public good. Rebuilding effective public ethics in its wake will present a monumental challenge.

Note:
Funding Information: There was no specific funding for this paper.

Conflict of Interests: KRK is Editor-in-Chief of BJPsych Open and RW is Deputy Editor of BJPsych Open but these would not constitute conflicts of interest. No other conflicts declared.

Keywords: COVID-19, bioethics, public health ethics, anticipatory governance, pandemic planning

JEL Classification: I18

Suggested Citation

Montgomery, Jonathan and Kaufman, Kenneth and Williams, Richard, Thinking, Talking and Acting about Public Health Ethics in the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 9, 2021). Faculty of Laws University College London Law Research Paper No. 4/2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4144692 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4144692

Jonathan Montgomery (Contact Author)

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

Kenneth Kaufman

Rutgers University, New Brunswick - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School ( email )

Richard Williams

University of South Wales

Caerleon Campus
Lodge Road
Pontypridd, Wales CF37 1DL
United Kingdom

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