Law Commons^™

False Claims: The Coordinated Exploitation Of The United States Government By The Healthcare Industry, Grady Mcmichen

Journal of Law and Health

The False Claims Act (FCA) has a long-standing history of protecting the United States government from being defrauded by merchants and other parties submitting claims for repayment. Affording Americans who have enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare expansion plans the same protection afforded to the federal government will allow for action to be brought to prevent large hospital networks from engaging in price-fixing behaviors. Implementing this change will have the effect of reducing healthcare prices for all Americans.

Applying the False Claims Act at the price-fixing level will have the largest affect; however, it is still important to iron out procedures …

Overdose: The Public Health Policies That Caused The Opioid Crisis, Benjamin T. Suslavich

Cleveland State Law Review

Recently, local governments have successfully sued pharmaceutical manufacturers for damages related to the opioid crisis in the United States under the theory that these pharmaceuticals were responsible for causing addictions and deaths across the nation. However, the opioid crisis was, in fact, caused by the creation of national public health policies which compelled the prescription of opioid analgesics. The dogma of the "pain movement," which spearheaded public health policies, was adopted in some form by nearly every healthcare regulator in the country. With unchecked power and influence on the U.S. healthcare system, healthcare regulators mutated slightly misleading advertising by pharmaceutical …

From Healthcare To Hiring: Impacts Of Social And Public Policy On Disabled Veterans In The United States, Benjamin Michael Stoflet

Journal of Law and Health

Part I of this paper considers the historical foundations, motivations, and evolution of veterans’ disability and employment legislation in the United States. Utilizing disability and employment as its framework, Part II then defines, describes, and critiques contemporary policies for disabled veterans in the areas of federal employment protections and uses of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) within the VA’s disability decision review process. Part III discusses the roles played by disabled veterans and the federal government in policy reform, finding that both sides act as catalysts and barriers to legislative change. This paper concludes in Part IV, recommending legislation that integrates …

Reconnecting The Patient: Why Telehealth Policy Solutions Must Consider The Deepening Digital Divide, Laura C. Hoffman

Journal of Law and Health

This Article attempts to untangle the complicated web of providing telehealth to those populations it is potentially capable of further alienating from access to healthcare including: 1) race/minority populations, 2) aging adults, 3) individuals with disabilities, 4) non-English speakers, 5) individuals living in rural areas, 6) socioeconomic class, and 7) children, in order to advance the argument that telehealth can be successful in providing healthcare access to these populations. Rather than suggesting that telehealth simply “cannot work” for these populations, instead this Article considers how telehealth can and must meet the needs of these individuals through technology, access, and policy …

Don't Tread On My Ip Rights: A Law And Economics Analysis Of "March-In Rights" Under The Bayh-Dole Act, Caitlin Grow

Cleveland State Law Review

The Bayh-Dole Act has been imperative to the development of the United States’ dynamic pharma-biotech sector. However, the use of march-in rights under the Bayh- Dole Act has remained controversial. On the one hand, there is the idea of market equilibrium with a need to secure health care for the public. Many believe march-in rights should be used to create this balance by regulating the pricing of drugs that were developed using federally funded research. On the other hand, some advocates recognize that the current relationship between public-sector institutions and business as the developers of basic research, and private-sector biotechnology …

Covid-19 Relief For Opportunity Zone Funds And Investors, Adam Wallwork, Gary Hecimovich

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article describes how temporary changes to the qualified opportunity zone (QOZ) tax incentive, combined with new reliance regulations that clarify the requirements for qualified opportunity zone businesses (QOZBs) to modify their written plans to expend working capital in response to the ongoing coronavirus emergency, will make more individuals and entities eligible for federal tax stimulus by increasing flexibility for the qualified opportunity funds (QOFs) and QOZBs in which they invest to redeploy their capital into qualifying business development projects in a QOZ.

Force Majeure Clauses At The Age Of Covid-19: How Should Courts Interpret Them And Why A Conservative Application Is Necessary, Dorothy Swagler

Global Business Law Review

A force majeure clause aims to define the scope of unforeseeable events that may excuse or delay a party’s performance. In the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID) pandemic, many parties to disputes attempted to turn to force majeure clauses written in boilerplate language. COVID is distinguishable, however, from other historical force majeure events because of its rapid global development and international economic impact brought upon by government restriction and access issues. In effect, these boilerplate clauses coupled with this novel pandemic, left parties in dispute ill-equipped to know whether their force majeure clause was enforceable. This resulted in a flood …

Machine Learning-Based Medical Devices: The Fda’S Regulation, Requirements, And Restrictions, Charli Beam

Journal of Law and Health

The FDA should create functional regulations for the growing number of machine learning medical devices. The healthcare system is increasingly using these devices for diagnosis. Machine learning devices trained on biased data sets are susceptible to furthering certain types of bias and generating flawed outcomes. The FDA should require ML medical devices to include a label that describes the demographics of the tested population. If manufacturers fail to include this information, the FDA could determine the label false or misleading under §502 of the FD&C Act and stop sales of the device. After approval, the FDA should use §814.89(2) and …

Transcript: Presentation On Artificial Intelligence And Discrimination In Healthcare, Sharona Hoffman

Journal of Law and Health

The following is a transcription from The Digital Health and Technology Symposium presented at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law by The Journal of Law & Health on Friday, April 8, 2022. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Transcript: Presentation On Individual Autonomy In Ai Healthcare, Charlotte Tschider

Journal of Law and Health

The following is a transcription from The Digital Health and Technology Symposium presented at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law by The Journal of Law & Health on Friday, April 8, 2022. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Transcript: Presentation On Data Privacy Questions In The Digital Health World, Sara Gerke

Journal of Law and Health

The following is a transcription from The Digital Health and Technology Symposium presented at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law by The Journal of Law & Health on Friday, April 8, 2022. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Reclaiming The Right To Consent: Judicial Bypass Mechanism As A Way For Persons With Disabilities To Lawfully Consent To Sexual Activity In Ohio, Melissa S. Obodzinski

Cleveland State Law Review

In Ohio, it is a criminal offense to engage in sexual conduct with another when his or her ability to consent is “substantially impaired” because of a mental or physical condition. There is no mechanism for persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to receive judicial notice of whether their ability to consent is “substantially impaired” prior to criminal adjudication, nor is there a way for them to affirmatively prove that they have the capacity to consent to sexual activity. Thus, under Ohio law, intellectually and/or developmentally disabled individuals may be functionally and irrevocably barred from engaging in sexual intimacy for …

Parens Patriae, Punishment, And Pandemics: The State’S Responsibility For Incarcerated Persons During A Public Health Emergency, Meredith Harrell

Journal of Law and Health

This article looks at the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 and explores the commonalities and differences of states’ actions to protect their citizens, especially the most vulnerable populations. The article discusses the government’s obligations to jailees and prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic and how incarcerated persons have been consistently failed by the institutions that are required to protect them. The article examines possible remedies for these governmental and institutional failings under the Eighth Amendment and § 1983 civil rights claims. Ultimately the article proposes that monetary damages would provide relief to incarcerated individuals and their families …

How The Conviction And Sentencing Of "Tiger Mandingo" Modernized Missouri's Hiv-Related Statutes In 2021, Ryan Jay Mcelhose

Journal of Law and Health

Michael Johnson or “Tiger Mandingo” as he referred to himself on social media, engaged in sexual acts with six different men, all of whom claimed that Michael lied about living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As a result, the State of Missouri charged him with recklessly infecting a partner with HIV exposing or attempting to expose another with HIV. With contradictory trial testimony, no genetic fingerprint testing, and little to no questioning of his sexual partners’ credibility, the jury found Michael Johnson guilty of five felony counts which resulted in a 30-year prison sentence. Ultimately the Missouri Court of Appeals …

Inconsistency At The Pole: Exotic Dancer's Employment Status Should Be Uniform Throughout The U.S., T.J.D. Nadas

Journal of Law and Health

As states start to recognize exotic dancers as employees under Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), states that have not yet classified exotic dancers as employees have put club owners in danger of costly litigation for violating the FLSA. Thus, this Note is designed to act as a road map for club owners and state legislators to recognize exotic dancers as employees in compliance with the FLSA and provide insight into how to avoid litigation. This Note analyzes this issue in four parts; Part IV, the analysis, is split into four substantial sections. Part I gives a short summary of the …

Systematic Racism, Abortion And Bias In Medicine: All Threads Woven In The Cloth Of Racial Disparity For Mothers And Infants, Gabrielle Ploplis

Journal of Law and Health

This note argues that decisions like that of NAACP v. Wilmington Medical Center, Inc. have been one of many contributing factors in the disparity in mortality rates of both black and American Indian/Alaska Native newborns in comparison to white newborns across the country. Part II examines the current state of the law regarding issues of discrimination, accessibility of health care, and relocation and closure of medical centers that has disproportionately affect minorities in the U.S. Part III discusses the statistics of white, black, and American Indian/Alaska Native newborn and maternal mortality rates in the United States. Part IV addresses the …

Designing An Americans With Abilities Act: Consciousness, Capabilities, And Civil Rights, Laura C. Hoffman, Zachary E. Shapiro, Allison Rabkin Golden, Gregory E. Antill, Katherine Fang, Chaarushena Deb, Elizabeth Clarke, Alexis Kallen, Hanya M. Qureshi, Kai Shulman, Caroline V. Lawrence, Megan S. Wright, Joseph J. Fins

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a seminal piece of legislation aimed at protecting those with disabilities from discrimination. The ADA, however, has not been consistently able to integrate people with disabilities successfully into society. With a specific focus on individuals with serious brain injuries, this Article aims to provide insight into the shortcomings of the ADA, specifically focusing on lackluster enforcement of the legislation and its failure to incorporate promising new technologies. These limitations of the ADA are made even more clear in light of the evolution occurring in the understanding of rights and capabilities. As such, the …

Equal Access To Donate: Plasma Donation Centers And The Ada, Lucy Richman

Cleveland State Law Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against disabled persons in employment, public services, and private entities operating public accommodations. Despite clear moral and social incentives for becoming disability-friendly outside of the legal mandate, many private entities have asserted that the ADA does not apply to them. In multiple cases, plasma donation centers, one particular type of entity, have strongly disputed whether they are subject to the ADA as public accommodations. The crux of these cases has hinged on whether plasma donation centers are “service establishments” under Title III of the ADA, and three such cases have reached the …

Reconnecting The Patient: Why Telehealth Policy Solutions Must Consider The Deepening Digital Divide, Laura C. Hoffman

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article will attempt to untangle the complicated web of providing telehealth to those populations it is potentially capable of further alienating from access to healthcare including: 1) race/minority populations, 2) aging adults, 3) individuals with disabilities, 4) non-English speakers, 5) individuals living in rural areas, 6) socioeconomic class, and 7) children, in order to advance the argument that telehealth can be successful in providing healthcare access to these populations. Rather than suggesting that telehealth simply "cannot work" for these populations, instead consideration can and must meet these individuals through technology, access, and policy developments.

First, this Article will explain …