RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Snakes and ladders: state interventions and the place of liberty in public health policy JF Journal of Medical Ethics JO J Med Ethics FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 510 OP 513 DO 10.1136/medethics-2016-103502 VO 42 IS 8 A1 Dawson, Angus J YR 2016 UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/42/8/510.abstract AB In this paper I outline and explore some problems in the way that the Nuffield Council of Bioethics’ report Public Health: Ethical Issues (2007) presents its ‘Intervention Ladder’. They see the metaphor of a ladder both as capturing key normative priorities and as making a real and important contribution to ethical policymaking in public health. In this paper I argue that the intervention ladder is not a useful model for thinking about policy decisions, that it is likely to produce poor decisions and that it is incompatible with the report's stated approach to relevant public health policy values.