Law Commons^™

Human Rights For Health Across The United Nations, Benjamin Mason Meier, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The United Nations (UN) plays a central role in realizing human rights to advance global health. Looking beyond state obligations, the UN has called on all its specialized agencies to mainstream human rights across all their activities. With globalization compelling these UN institutions to meet an expanding set of global challenges to underlying determinants of health, human rights are guiding these international organizations in addressing public health. These international organizations within the UN system are actively engaged in implementing health-related human rights—in both their mission and their actions to carry out that mission. Through this mainstreaming of human rights, global …

The Legal Determinants Of Health: Harnessing The Power Of Law For Global Health And Sustainable Development, Lawrence O. Gostin, John T. Monahan, Jenny Kaldor, Mary Debartolo, Eric A. Friedman, Katie Gottschalk, Susan C. Kim, Ala Alwan, Agnes Binagwaho, Gian Luca Burci, Luisa Cabal, Katherine Deland, Timothy Grant Evans, Eric Goosby, Sara Hossain, Howard Koh, Gorik Ooms, Mirta Roses Periago, Rodrigo Uprimny, Alicia E. Yamin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Health risks in the 21st century are beyond the control of any country. In an era of globalization, promoting public health and equity requires cooperation and coordination both within and among states. Law can be a powerful tool for advancing global health, yet it remains significantly underutilised and poorly understood. Working in partnership, public health lawyers and health professionals can become champions for evidence-based laws to ensure the public’s health and safety.

The O'Neill Institute/Georgetown University Lancet Commission on Law and Global Health articulates the vital role of law – through legal instruments, legal capacities, and institutional reforms, as well …

Supervised Injection Facilities: Legal And Policy Reforms, Lawrence O. Gostin, James G. Hodge, Chelsea L. Gulinson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 70 000 deaths from drug overdoses occurred in 2017, including prescription and illicit opioids, representing a 6-fold increase since 1999. Innovative harm-reduction solutions are imperative. Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) create safe places for drug injection, including overdose prevention, counseling, and treatment referral services. Supervised injection facilities neither provide illicit drugs nor do their personnel inject users. Supervised injection facilities are effective in reducing drug-related mortality, morbidity, and needle-borne infections. Yet their lawfulness remains uncertain. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently threatened criminal prosecution for SIF operators, medical personnel, …

Fighting Novel Diseases Amidst Humanitarian Crises, Lawrence O. Gostin, Neil R. Sircar, Eric A. Friedman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Humanitarian crises are becoming more prevalent and, frequently, more complex, in zones of mis-governance, lack of government presence, and even active conflict, marked by public mistrust and insecurity. The WHO and other health emergency responders lack the capacities and mandate to adequately respond. The current Ebola outbreak in an area of an active insurgency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is just such a crisis. The State Department has banned U.S. personnel from the outbreak zone due to safety concerns, leaving the population feeling abandoned, potentially increasing the threat to the few brave health workers who remain.

We need …

Living, Aging, And Dying In Healthy And Just Societies: Life Lessons From My Father, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

My father passed away at 102 years old. He lived, aged, and died well. But that is rare in the United States and globally. The World Health Organization defines palliative care “throughout the life course” as improving quality of life for patients and families and relieving pain and suffering, while paying special attention to physical, psychosocial, and spiritual functioning. That’s the global vision, but then there’s the reality. Palliative care, in practice, has been little more than pain relief at life’s end—and in much of the world, not even that.

We need to reimagine palliation, embracing a communal or relational …