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practice
that the professional places the client’s interests above his own. This higher
standard enables the vulnerable client to place trust in the professional. In
our case, although the public is not an individual client, the professional food
inspector acts as a steward of a public trust, namely, protecting the food supply
from contagion or poison, to which all are susceptible or vulnerable. In
this regard, we can propose a simple ratio: the greater the degree of susceptibility
or vulnerability (which varies in different situations), the greater the
obligation to protect and place the interest of the public over personal interest
and, consequently, the greater culpability and penalty for dereliction of duty.
This analysis does not attempt to provide specific recommendations. Doing
so would require a more penetrating analysis of the facts of the case and a
deeper understanding of local conditions and contexts. Hopefully, we have
provided sufficient guidance to begin examining the ethical issues raised
by this case.
reFerences
1 Public Health Leadership Society. (2002). Principles of the Ethical Practice of
Public Health. Retrieved from: http://phls.org/CMSuploads/Principles-of-the-
Ethical-Practice-of-PH-Version-2.2-68496.pdf
2 Pennington, H. (2009). The Public Inquiry into the September 2005 Outbreak
of E. coli O157 in South Wales. Cardiff, Wales: HMSO. Retrieved from: www.
ecoliinquirywales.org
3 McKie, J. and Richardson, J. (2003). The rule of rescue. Social Science and
Medicine, 56(12):2407–19.
4 Ruger, J. P. (2010). Health and Social Justice, New York, NY: Oxford University
Press.
5 Jennings, B. and Arras, J. (2010). Ethical Guidance for Public Health Emergency
Preparedness and Response: Highlighting Ethics and Values in a Vital Public
Health Service. Prepared for the Ethics Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee
to the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010. Retrieved
from: http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/integrity/phethics/ESdocuments.htm
6 Pellegrino, E. D., Veatch, R. M. & Langan, J. P. (1991). Ethics, Trust and the
Profession: Philosophical and Cultural Aspects. Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press.
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