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Health Law and Policy

University of Washington School of Law

2016

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Law, Economics, And Medicine Of Off-Label Prescribing, William S. Comanor, Jack Needleman Mar 2016

The Law, Economics, And Medicine Of Off-Label Prescribing, William S. Comanor, Jack Needleman

Washington Law Review

There is a major dissonance in the current structure of regulating new drugs that have more than one medical indication. Physicians are authorized to prescribe these drugs for all indications including those beyond their approved purposes. However, product manufacturers are expressly prohibited from marketing or promoting their drugs for any purpose other than those which have been specifically indicated. While prescribing physicians are encouraged to gain medical information on any additional indications, they cannot obtain it from one of its most likely sources: the drug’s supplier. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent opinion in United States v. Caronia has …


Navigating Through The Fog Of Vertical Merger Law: A Guide To Counselling Hospital-Physician Consolidation Under The Clayton Act, Thomas L. Greaney, Douglas Ross Mar 2016

Navigating Through The Fog Of Vertical Merger Law: A Guide To Counselling Hospital-Physician Consolidation Under The Clayton Act, Thomas L. Greaney, Douglas Ross

Washington Law Review

Lawyers assessing legality under the antitrust laws of hospital acquisitions of physician practices face a quandary. The case law is sparse, federal enforcement guidance outdated, and academic input conflicting. Applying these muddled standards in the rapidlyevolving health care sector only magnifies the uncertainty. While most transactions will be competitively neutral or beneficial, rapidly evolving market conditions causing integration between hospitals and physicians present opportunities for consolidations that may harm consumer interests. Indeed, given the highly concentrated structure of many hospital markets in the nation, preemptive acquisitions of physician practices may be a tempting strategy for some to undermine competition. This …


Buyer Power And Healthcare Prices, John B. Kirkwood Mar 2016

Buyer Power And Healthcare Prices, John B. Kirkwood

Washington Law Review

One major reason why healthcare spending is much higher in America than in other countries is that our prices are exceptionally high. This Article addresses whether we ought to rely more heavily on buyer power to reduce those prices, as other nations do. It focuses on two sectors where greater buyer power could easily be exercised: prescription drugs covered by Medicare and hospital and physician services covered by private insurance. The Article concludes that the biggest buyer of all, the federal government, should be allowed to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices. This would likely reduce the prices of many branded …


Hospital Mergers And Economic Efficiency, Roger D. Blair, Christine Piette Durrance, D. Daniel Sokol Mar 2016

Hospital Mergers And Economic Efficiency, Roger D. Blair, Christine Piette Durrance, D. Daniel Sokol

Washington Law Review

Consolidation via merger both from hospital-to-hospital mergers and from hospital acquisitions of physician groups is changing the competitive landscape of the provision of health care delivery in the United States. This Article undertakes a legal and economic examination of a recent Ninth Circuit case examining the hospital acquisition of a physician group. This Article explores the Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Nampa Inc. v. St. Luke’s Health System, Ltd. (St. Luke’s) decision—proposing a type of analysis that the district court and Ninth Circuit should have undertaken and that we hope future courts undertake when analyzing mergers in the health care …


Buyers In The Baby Market: Toward A Transparent Consumerism, June Carbone, Jody Lyneé Madeira Mar 2016

Buyers In The Baby Market: Toward A Transparent Consumerism, June Carbone, Jody Lyneé Madeira

Washington Law Review

This Article assesses the forces on the horizon remaking the fertility industry, including greater consolidation in the health care industry, the prospects for expanding (or contracting) insurance coverage, the likely sources of funding for future innovation in the industry, and the impact of globalization and fertility tourism. It concludes that concentration in the American market, in contrast with other medical services, may not necessarily raise prices, and price differentiation may proceed more from fertility tourism than from competition within a single geographic region. The largest challenge may be linking those who would fund innovation, whether innovation that produces new high …


Hospital Mergers And Economic Efficiency, Roger D. Blair, Christine Piette Durrance, D. Daniel Sokol Mar 2016

Hospital Mergers And Economic Efficiency, Roger D. Blair, Christine Piette Durrance, D. Daniel Sokol

Washington Law Review

Consolidation via merger both from hospital-to-hospital mergers and from hospital acquisitions of physician groups is changing the competitive landscape of the provision of health care delivery in the United States. This Article undertakes a legal and economic examination of a recent Ninth Circuit case examining the hospital acquisition of a physician group. This Article explores the Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Nampa Inc. v. St. Luke’s Health System, Ltd. (St. Luke’s) decision—proposing a type of analysis that the district court and Ninth Circuit should have undertaken and that we hope future courts undertake when analyzing mergers in the health care …


Buyers In The Baby Market: Toward A Transparent Consumerism, June Carbone, Jody Lyneé Madeira Mar 2016

Buyers In The Baby Market: Toward A Transparent Consumerism, June Carbone, Jody Lyneé Madeira

Washington Law Review

This Article assesses the forces on the horizon remaking the fertility industry, including greater consolidation in the health care industry, the prospects for expanding (or contracting) insurance coverage, the likely sources of funding for future innovation in the industry, and the impact of globalization and fertility tourism. It concludes that concentration in the American market, in contrast with other medical services, may not necessarily raise prices, and price differentiation may proceed more from fertility tourism than from competition within a single geographic region. The largest challenge may be linking those who would fund innovation, whether innovation that produces new high …


The Law, Economics, And Medicine Of Off-Label Prescribing, William S. Comanor, Jack Needleman Mar 2016

The Law, Economics, And Medicine Of Off-Label Prescribing, William S. Comanor, Jack Needleman

Washington Law Review

There is a major dissonance in the current structure of regulating new drugs that have more than one medical indication. Physicians are authorized to prescribe these drugs for all indications including those beyond their approved purposes. However, product manufacturers are expressly prohibited from marketing or promoting their drugs for any purpose other than those which have been specifically indicated. While prescribing physicians are encouraged to gain medical information on any additional indications, they cannot obtain it from one of its most likely sources: the drug’s supplier. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent opinion in United States v. Caronia has …


A Flexible Health Care Workforce Requires A Flexible Regulatory Environment: Promoting Health Care Competition Through Regulatory Reform, Andrew I. Gavil, Tara Isa Koslov Mar 2016

A Flexible Health Care Workforce Requires A Flexible Regulatory Environment: Promoting Health Care Competition Through Regulatory Reform, Andrew I. Gavil, Tara Isa Koslov

Washington Law Review

Effective competition policy is critical to the success of U.S. health care reform, including efforts to reduce health care costs, increase quality of care, and expand access to health care services. While promoting competition is necessary at every level of the rapidly evolving health care system, it is particularly important with respect to licensed professionals who provide health care services. This Article argues that the current system of health care professional regulation, born of the last century, is in numerous respects an impediment to the kinds of changes needed to fully unleash the benefits of competition among different types of …