PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - S A Hall TI - Should public health respect autonomy? AID - 10.1136/jme.18.4.197 DP - 1992 Dec 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 197--201 VI - 18 IP - 4 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/18/4/197.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/18/4/197.full SO - J Med Ethics1992 Dec 01; 18 AB - This paper suggests that public health, due to its community orientation, may be ignoring certain ethical principles--namely the rights of individuals and communities to self-determination. The expectation of individual rights as a member of a community is reviewed and the additional right of a community for self-determination is proposed. The influences on ethical evaluations by the legal and economic environments are suggested, using US examples. The conclusion argues that as the focus of health-care delivery changes, it will become more important to consider these questions of group ethics.