234. Privatizing Public Health.

Can private companies effectively serve public health functions? A panel discussion sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University featuring Lindsay F. Wiley, Professor of Law, Director of Health Law and Policy Program, American University Washington College of Law, Tamar Sharon, Associate Professor of Philosophy of Technology; Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Hub for Security, Privacy and Data Governance, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nicolas Terry, Hall Render Professor of Law, Executive Director of William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Craig Konnoth, Associate Professor of Law, Director, Health Law Certificate; and Faculty Director, Health Data & Technology Initiative, Silicon Flatirons Center, University of Colorado School of Law, and our moderator Mason Marks, Assistant Professor of Law, Gonzaga University; Fellow in Ethics of Technological and Biomedical Innovation, Edmond J. Safra and Petrie-Flom Centers, Harvard University This privatization of public health, which has taken shape over the past few years and accelerated rapidly during the pandemic, raises challenging ethical and legal questions. What is lost when public health becomes privatized? Are values like scientific rigor, transparency, equity, and accountability upheld? Are the promised efficiencies of the free market realized? This panel discussion addressed these questions and more.