Law professors comment on flu vaccine ethics

An article about the ethical response to the United States' H1N1 virus vaccination campaign in the Oct. 7 edition of The Christian Science Monitor included comments from Andrew Askland, Director of the Center of the Study of Law, Science, & Technology at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, and professor James G. Hodge Jr.

In "Swine flu vaccine: Is it ethical to say no?", reporter Patrik Jonsson raised the issue of whether the rights of Americans to determine what's best for themselves and their families trump the federal government's efforts to head off what could be a flu pandemic.

Many Americans are hesitant to get the vaccine because of unanswered questions about it, Jonsson reported. If a majority of them decline to participate in the federal government's voluntary inoculation program, the entire flu strategy may be derailed, endangering the public's health, according to some experts.

The debate is "changing the parameters" for individual responsibility, Askland said. "Lots of people like the idea of everyone else getting inoculated, and, `If they do, then I don't have to'," he said.

Assertions that parents who are "rolling the dice" by allowing their children to be vaccinated aren't responsible, Hodge said.

While noting some objections to the vaccination program are warranted, he said, "We're also seeing an increasing feeling among some Americans that we shouldn't trust government on this, and that vaccines themselves are the cause of major harm, even though that connection doesn't exist."

Janie Magruder, [email protected]
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law