Collective Scientific Testimony and Trustworthy Public Health Agencies

authored by

George Kwasi Barimah

Abstract

How should we evaluate the trustworthiness of public health agencies (PHAs) such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)? This paper shall answer this question by arguing that PHAs testify as a collective and that conditions of trustworthiness must be evaluated at the collective level. The evaluative criteria consist of scientific competence, justified moral and political considerations and proper institutional design.

Organisation(s)

Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences

Type

Article

Journal

Public health ethics

Volume

18

ISSN

1754-9973

Publication date

11.2025

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Issues, ethics and legal aspects, Health Policy

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phaf011 (Access: Closed)