Law Commons^™

Caring For The Body And The Soul: Small Businesses Post-Hobby Lobby And Hhs Contraceptive Rule, James Lesinski

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

The article examines the corporate personhood movement and its impact on closely-held corporations and individuals focusing on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule.

The Eeoc, The Ada, And Workplace Wellness Programs, Samuel R. Bagenstos

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

The article focuses on the role of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in workplace wellness programs in the U.S.

Caveat Emptor: How The Intersection Of Big Data And Consumer Genomics Exponentially Increases Information Privacy Risks, Katherine Drabiak

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

Our genomic sequence constitutes the most sensitive and personal of information: uniquely identifying us, revealing our propensity to develop certain diseases and conditions, and exposing familial connections of close genetic relatives. Big Data enables consumer-genomics companies to collect, store, and electronically share genomic-sequence data in conjunction with numerous pieces of private health and personal information.

Reproductive Selection Bias, Lauren R. Roth

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

Decades after the advent of assisted reproductive technology ("ART") that allows prospective parents to deselect embryos with grave genetic illnesses—a procedure called preimplantation genetic diagnosis ("PGD")— it remains a tool largely of upper-class whites. I argue that the time has come to focus on closing the access gap in this area of reproductive rights in spite of the current political climate. If reproductive liberty is tied to equality through access to medical procedures, scholars must finally answer the question of what equality requires in a system that permits the use of ARTs. This Article shows how the current system of …

Food For Thought: Flexible Farm To School Procurement Policies Can Increase Access To Fresh, Healthy School Meals, Lauren Tonti

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

The article focuses on the enactment of farm to school procurement policies for providing students health and its impact in increasing access to fresh, healthy school meals in the U.S.

Controlling Excessive Off-Label Medicare Drug Costs Through The False Claims Act, David Kwok

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

High prescription drug prices are driving ever-increasing United States healthcare costs, and the federal government is following this alarming trend …

Table Of Contents

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Nutrition And Health Equity: The Role Of Washington, D.C.’S East Capitol Urban Farm, Tia D. Jeffery

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Disenfranchised communities have yet to become full beneficiaries of the core values of the Constitution. Health inequities are rooted in the social barriers connected to racism, classism, and sexism. Furthermore, marginalized groups in Washington, District of Columbia (D.C.), reside in food deserts. Urban agriculture has gained exposure as a working solution to the epidemic of food deserts in underserved urban communities. The East Capitol Urban Farm is one of the urban food hub extensions of the University of the District of Columbia College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences. It operates in a food desert in Ward 7 of …

Non-Communicable Disease And Diabetes Screening In Community Settings In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Case Study In Senegal, West Africa, Rhonda Belue

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Sub-Saharan Africa is faced with a significant and increasing burden of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (diabetes). In Senegal, the prevalence of diabetes has been documented to be as high as 8.1% in urban-dwelling Senegalese and is fast approaching the United States prevalence of approximately nine percent; however, insufficient resources are available for prevention efforts and disease management. As a result, many cases remain undiagnosed, leading to an increased likelihood of diabetes complications and mortality. Many of these cases remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed only after complications have developed, such as the need for amputation, kidney failure, …

Evidence-Based Public Health Is The Answer To Increasing American Childhood Vaccination Rates, Not Legislative Fortitude, Molly F. Anderson

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

After recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease across the United States, some states have responded by removing non-medical exemptions. State legislatures that remove non-medical exemptions do so with the hope of increasing vaccination rates. However, there are serious concerns about this knee-jerk legislative reaction. Removing non-medical exemptions can lead to anti-vaccination sentiment and interference with parental autonomy.

This article argues that instead of removing non-medical exemptions, states should implement evidence-based public health solutions in order to increase vaccination rates. One example of an evidence-based solution is the Community Guide, a resource that contains reviews by a Task Force on a wide …

Belling The Cat: Implementation Of A Prospective Payment Reimbursement System For Critical Access Hospitals, Its Likely Success, And Political Implications Of This Policy Move, Erin E. Grant

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Health care is plagued by inefficient reimbursement policies which encourage expensive financial waste with little incentive to maintain care quality. Though no perfect solution exists, effective remedies may require a hard look at programs so far untouched by policy changes. This article discusses the application of a prospective payment system of reimbursement for critical access hospitals, as well as how this policy change would affect rural health care access, costs, and quality of care. Though some fear prospective payment systems of reimbursement would cripple rural health care, evidence shows it would likely promote more cost-efficient care without diminishing quality or …

Table Of Contents

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Competition’S Achilles Heel, Thomas L. Greaney

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Private Antitrust Enforcement In Health Care, Anne Marie Helm

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Americans are paying too much for health care services and insurance, in large part due to insufficiently competitive markets. Waves of consolidation have fortified providers and insurers with market power, resulting in higher prices and lower quality for consumers. As antidotes, advocates have proposed various legislative, regulatory, and enforcement solutions. Yet, unlike public antitrust enforcement, private antitrust enforcement is either not mentioned or criticized as sour grapes from competitors or a money grab by consumers. Instead of ignoring or bashing private litigation, those looking to address the health care pricing crisis in the United States should be looking to optimize …

The Anti-Competitive Potential Of Cross-Market Mergers In Health Care, Jaime S. King, Erin C. Fuse Brown

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Health care consolidation in the United States has been widespread at all levels and across all entities. This consolidation has extended beyond horizontal mergers of hospitals or other providers to include out-of-market mergers, or cross-market mergers. Cross-market mergers include the merger or acquisition of any health care entity that does not directly compete with the acquiring entity in the same product or geographic market. Antitrust enforcers have historically had little in the way of market theory, economic models, or empirical data to inform their analyses on the potential impacts of cross-market mergers on competition. However, recent developments in economic theory …

Competition As Policy Reform: The Use Of Vigorous Antitrust Enforcement, Market-Governance Rules, And Incentives In Health Care, Emilio Varanini

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

In health care, the increase in market concentration on both the insurer side and the provider side has led to insurers and providers acquiring market power. Insurers and providers, in turn, have used that market power to charge higher prices to employers providing employees with medical care without corresponding increases in the quality of that care. Responding more generally to the increase in market concentration in many industries in the United States with a range of inimical effects for the nation’s economy, the Obama Administration suggested a range of policy solutions that this article groups under the term “Competition as …

Avoiding Sticker Shock: Legislative Approaches To Protect Consumers From Surprise Medical Bills, Merlow M. Dunham

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Consumers are increasingly receiving surprise medical bills, where an insured patient is unexpectedly billed directly for medical services received at an in-network health care facility from an out-of-network provider. These situations often arise in emergency rooms, operating rooms, and delivery rooms, despite the efforts of patients to receive care only from in-network providers. Surprise medical bills commonly leave consumers on the hook for thousands of dollars for out-of-network services that they had no opportunity to refuse. This article explores how the steady rise of narrow provider network health plans and the often-corresponding lack of transparency regarding which providers are included …

Working Well(Ness): The Impact Of The Ada Final Rule On Wellness Program Regulation And A Proposal For A Zero-Incentive Rule, Stefanie Brody

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently amended wellness program regulation under 29 C.F.R. § 1630.14 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Amidst criticism of the new rule, this article proposes the EEOC return to a zero-incentive policy for voluntary wellness programs that include disability-related inquiries or medical examinations. First, it reviews existing literature on wellness programs and the ADA, highlighting the legal and ethical challenges facing American workers with disabilities. Then, it explores the latest case law, illustrating the effects of the new rule compared to the proposal. By eliminating the thirty percent incentive limit and redefining “voluntary” …

Don’T Pull The Plug On Bioethics Mediation: The Use Of Mediation In Health Care Settings And End Of Life Situations, Amy Moorkamp

Journal of Dispute Resolution

A hefty decision, such as the life or death of a loved one, requires more than a few minutes of deliberation and a handful of outside consultations. Delicate, emotional, and potentially contentious medical decisions compel a structured, compassionate approach to produce quality and well-informed results. Due to the magnitude of the decision being made, as well as the abundance of other considerations, (emotional, religious, historic, financial, etc.) the case for a creative, problem-solving process of dispute resolution, such as mediation, is ripe.

This Comment will explore the use of mediation in bioethical disputes. In Part II, the Comment will give …

Taking Quality Of Health Care Seriously In Provider Merger Analysis, Kent Bernard

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Traditionally, antitrust analysis had no method to quantify the benefits of better health care outcomes from a potential merger to balance them against the potential for increased costs. However, a branch of health care economics allows for that calculation. This approach has not been used in antitrust analysis to date, but United States law is flexible enough to allow such an approach, and the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines contemplate it in Section 5. It enables us to use established procedures to put quality of care into health care merger analysis.

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Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

With Great Power Comes No Responsibility: The Tragedy And The Irony Of Erisa Preemption, Jessica Frenkel

University of Colorado Law Review

Under the current health care financing regime, managed care organizations have significant power to determine patients' care but no legal responsibility when they use that power to pursue profits and harm patients. Managed care organizations are shielded from liability because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts state causes of action and does not provide a comparable remedy. This Comment attempts to restart a conversation about the dangers of allowing managed care organizations to retain significant power over patient care without any risk of liability of an especially vulnerable subgroup of patients: the severely mentally ill. It …

A Little Less Regulation: Why Federal Pain Management Laws Are Hurting State Efforts To Combat The Opioid Epidemic, Michael Waldrop

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

The English Rule - It Ain't English, And Ought Not Be American., Timothy M. Mulligan

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

A New Remedy For Junk Science: Article 11.073 And Texas's Response To The Changing Landscape In The Forensic Sciences., Trevor Rosson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

No Appropriation Without Compensation: How Per Se Takings Of Personal Property Check The Power To Regulate Commerce., William Sumner Macdaniel

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Demise Of Anti-Panhandling Laws In America., Natie Pilgram Neidig

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

United States V. Mcintosh: Ninth Circuit Limits Federal Prosecutors From Spending To Enforce Marijuana Laws In Medicinal States., Daniel Haley

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Exclusionary Rule And The Dueling Legacies Of Utah V. Streiff: Which Will Be Suppressed., Marcos Herrera

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.