title: The ethics of biodefense.
abstract: This essay reviews major areas of ethical debate with regard to biodefense, focusing on cases in which biodefense presents ethical problems that diverge from those presented by naturally-occurring outbreaks of infectious disease. It concludes with a call for ethicists to study not only the ethical issues raised in biodefense programs, but also the ethics of biodefense more generally.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-4976, USA. nicholas.king@case.edu
authors.forename: Nicholas B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D001694:Biological Warfare / Q000941:ethics; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics*; D023482:Bioterrorism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002961:Civil Rights; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics; D003264:Containment of Biohazards; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D004813:Epidemiology / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000941:ethics; D033281:Nontherapeutic Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000941:ethics*; D011640:Public Policy; D011643:Publishing / Q000941:ethics; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000941:ethics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States