title: Wake me up when there's a crisis: progress on state pandemic influenza ethics preparedness.
abstract: We assessed the progress since 2005 of state plans for pandemic influenza and found that 7 states had recommended steps to further clarify ethical processes or decisions; 6 states had made some progress but almost exclusively in hospital preparedness. Having a high-level public health leader, such as a health department director, committed to ethics was the key determinant of progress. Some state health departments may be destined to gain an appreciation for ethics through ethical mishaps.
authors.affiliation: MEASURE Evaluation, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, USA. jim.thomas@unc.edu
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Siobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058873:Pandemics; D011635:Public Health Administration; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States; D014944:World Health Organization