ABSTRACT
Ethical language has a good deal of authority and power in contemporary American society. The difficulty posed by the rhetorical or political uses of ethical language is that it is not always possible to discern the pivotal ethical arguments and value commitments of those engaged in a controversy amidst all the verbiage that passes for public debate. Laetrile proponents tend to depict the consumers of laetrile as independent, autonomous, tough-minded agents who choose, on the basis of their values and interests, to use laetrile for the treatment or prophylaxis of cancer. In some ways laetrile is a particularly nasty battle which represents a preliminary skirmish in a broader social conflict over the value of personal freedom in contemporary America. Paternalism can only occur when an actor has not been authorized or delegated to act in the recipient's behalf. In addition to freedom, harm, and benevolent paternalism, considerations of justice directly affect the regulation and control of drugs and pharmaceuticals.
