2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

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Ethical dilemmas: Examples from public health practice – TB case vignette


Saturday, October 31, 2015 : 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Alan Melnick, MD, MPH, CPH, Department of Public Health, Clark County, Vancouver, WA
The purpose of this presentation will be to provide an illustration of a public health ethics dilemma frequently encountered by local health departments.  It will involve discussion of a case of multiple drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis in a teenager whose parents refused to participate in directly observed therapy (DOT).  The case will illustrate how a local health director integrates ethics and legal powers to address the health needs of the community while respecting the rights of individuals and families.  The presenter will engage the participants in a discussion of this case, which is based on a real event.  The cases will illustrate how to use ethics frameworks, such as the Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health, developed by the Public Health Leadership Society.

Learning Areas:

Administration, management, leadership
Ethics, professional and legal requirements

Learning Objectives:
Describe a common public health ethics challenge.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I serve as the Public Health Director/Health Officer for Clark County, Washington, and as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Oregon Health & Science University. I also serve as the Co-director for the Ethics Committee of the Public Health Leadership Society and have consulted with this group about implementing the Public Health Code of Ethics. I recently co-authored the book “Essentials of Public Health Ethics.”
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 1005.0: Good decision making in real time: Practical public health ethics for health officials--Fee: $300