Law Commons^™

The Impact Of Workplace Policies In The Safety, Health, And Well-Being Of Hospital Workers, Dean Hashimoto

Dean M. Hashimoto

No abstract provided.

Civil Rights Have A Place In Conversation, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

No abstract provided.

On Patenting Human Organisms Or How The Abortion Wars Feed Into The Ownership Fallacy, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

The idea of ominous technologies that put human individuals or parts of their bodies under someone else's control has been stirring emotions and terrifying people for centuries. It was a recent offshoot of this idea--the notion of “patenting humans”--that mobilized certain members of Congress to pass legislation prohibiting the issuance of patent claims “directed to or encompassing a human organism.” The values underlying this legislation may well have been agreeable, even admirable. Yet, the actual motivation for it was misguided; its execution, deeply flawed; its potential outcomes, hazardous

This Article reviews the history and background of this prohibition. It fleshes …

Bridging The Physical-Mental Gap: An Empirical Look At The Impact Of Mental Illness Stigma On Ada Outcomes, Wendy Hensel, Gregory Jones

Wendy F. Hensel

A plaintiff who seeks redress for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act must first show that he or she is "disabled" within the meaning of the statute. There is no question that all plaintiffs have experienced difficulty in making this showing as a result of several Supreme Court decisions narrowing the definition of "disability."Many scholars have argued that courts do not appreciate the social construction of disability and focus too much attention on medical diagnoses and functional limitations rather than the impact of societal attitudes and prejudices. Some scholars have gone further, however, to theorize that individuals alleging …

The Disabling Impact Of Wrongful Birth And Wrongful Life Actions, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

This article explores the torts of wrongful birth and wrongful life, which primarily arise when a physician or laboratory is negligent in the context of pre-natal genetic testing. In wrongful birth actions, the parents claim that if they had been properly informed of the genetic defect, they would have aborted their now-existing child or prevented his conception. In wrongful life actions, the disabled child brings suit in his own name claiming that it would have been better if he had never existed in the first place. Central to such actions is the child's assertion that his parents rightfully should have …

Valuing Lives: Allocating Scarce Medical Resources During A Public Health Emergency And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Leslie Wolf, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

Public health emergencies from natural disasters, infection, and man-made threats can present ethically or legally challenging questions about who will receive scarce resources. Federal and state governments have offered little guidance on how to prioritize distribution of limited resources. Several allocation proposals have appeared in the medical literature, but components of the proposed approaches violate federal antidiscrimination laws and ethical principles about fair treatment. Further planning efforts are needed to develop practical allocation guidelines that comport with antidiscrimination laws and the moral commitment to equal access reflected in those laws.

Interacting With Others: A Major Life Activity Under The Americans With Disabilities Act?, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

No abstract provided.

On Presidents, Agencies, And The Stem Cells Between Them: A Legal Analysis Of President Bush's And The Federal Governments Policy On The Funding Of Research Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

On August 9, 2001, President George W. Bush announced his policy on research involving human embryonic stem cells and proclaimed that federal funding would be allocated only to research involving human embryonic stem cell lines produced prior to his announcement (the Directive). Immediately thereafter, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it would act in accordance and full compliance with the Directive and took action to implement it. Since then, the Directive has dictated the nature and extent of scientific research involving human embryonic stem cells. Yet, astonishingly, despite being the subject of a boisterous debate, the Directive’s legality …

The Regulation Of Genetic Aspects Of Donated Reproductive Tissue - The Need For Federal Regulation, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

It is estimated that egg and sperm donations account for more than 60,000 births every year in the United States. However, surprisingly, and despite common misconceptions, there are no federal requirements and barely any state requirements to screen and test sperm and egg donors for genetic diseases. The only nationwide standards for genetic screening and testing of donated reproductive tissue are guidelines created by professional organizations, but compliance with those guidelines is voluntary so they cannot be enforced effectively. Furthermore, the few reported cases involving children born from genetically-compromised reproductive tissue illustrate the court system’s failure to afford such children …

Healthcare Reform Creates Pathway For Biosimilar Biologics, Frederick Rein, Scott Warren, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

No abstract provided.

Response To 'Pervasive Sequence Patents Cover The Entire Human Genome', Shine Tu, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

In a widely reported article by Jeffrey Rosenfeld and Christopher Mason published in Genome Medicine, significant misstatements were made, because the authors did not sufficiently review the claims – which define the legal scope of a patent – in the patents they analyzed. Specifically, the authors do not provide an adequate basis for their assertion that 41% of the genes in the human genome have been claimed.

Regulating The Placebo Effect In Clinical Practice, Tracey Chan

Tracey E Chan

Recent research and ethical analysis have forced a clinical and ethical reappraisal of the utility of placebos in medical practice. The main concern of ethics and law is that using placebos in health care involves deception, which is antithetical to patient autonomy and trust in the physician-patient relationship. This paper reviews the various, more nuanced scientific conceptions of the placebo effect, and evaluates the ethical and legal objections to deploying placebos in clinical practice. It argues that the placebo effect may be legitimately accommodated on the basis that it does not engage the requirement for material or quasi-fiduciary disclosures of …

The Affordable Care Act’S Projected Impact On Workers’ Compensation, Dean Hashimoto

Dean M. Hashimoto

No abstract provided.

Reforming Workers’ Compensation In Light Of The Affordable Care Act, Dean Hashimoto

Dean M. Hashimoto

No abstract provided.

The Affordable Care Act’S Impact On The Practice Of Occupational Medicine And The Implications For Public Health Surveillance, Dean Hashimoto

Dean M. Hashimoto

No abstract provided.

Empowering Patients And Strengthening Communities For Real Health Workforce And Funding Targets, Brook Baker

Brook K. Baker

Setting ambitious targets for expanding the global health workforce and improving the quality, efficiency and equity of service delivery is long overdue. Past density-need estimates suffer from a lack of contextual sensitivity and low ambition. Proposed frameworks for setting new targets have neglected some of the most important lessons that have emerged from the AIDS movement and treatment expansion: that health services must be deployed at the local community level and that patients can and must be empowered to prevent ill health and manage their own care – in short to be partners in their own well-being. Empowered patients and …

Panelist, The Contraceptive Mandate, Mary Ann Chirba

Mary Ann Chirba

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Regulatory Science In Transnational Governance Of Transgenic Plant Agriculture And Food Systems, Taiwo Oriola

Taiwo Oriola

The current national and transnational regulatory and policy framework for transgenic plant agriculture and food is arguably largely defined by science. Notably, transgenic plant agriculture policy deference to science is ostensibly premised on the general perception that science is neutral, objective, reliable, and agnostic. This is exemplified by cases ranging from Alliance for Bio-integrity v Donna Shalala, European Communities: Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products, to European Commission v Republic of Poland, in which conscientious, ethical, religious, and cultural oppositional grounds to transgenic plant agriculture and food were trumped by scientific imperatives. However, the lack of unanimity …

California Egg Toss - The High Costs Of Avoiding Unenforceable Surrogacy Contracts, Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson

In an emotionally charged decision regarding surrogacy contracts, it is important to recognize the ramifications, costs, and policy. There are advantages to both “gestational carrier surrogacy” contracts and “traditional surrogacy” contracts. However, this paper focuses on the differences between these contracts using case law. Specifically, this paper will focus on the implications of California case law regarding surrogacy contracts. Cases such as Johnson v. Calvert and In Re Marriage of Moschetta provide a clear distinction between these contracts. This distinction will show that while gestational carrier surrogacy contracts are more expensive, public policy and court opinions will provide certainty and …

California Egg Toss - The High Costs Of Avoiding Unenforceable Surrogacy Contracts, Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson

In an emotionally charged decision regarding surrogacy contracts, it is important to recognize the ramifications, costs, and policy. There are advantages to both “gestational carrier surrogacy” contracts and “traditional surrogacy” contracts. However, this paper focuses on the differences between these contracts using case law. Specifically, this paper will focus on the implications of California case law regarding surrogacy contracts. Cases such as Johnson v. Calvert and In Re Marriage of Moschetta provide a clear distinction between these contracts. This distinction will show that while gestational carrier surrogacy contracts are more expensive, public policy and court opinions will provide certainty and …

Fateful Health Care Decisions For Patients With Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementing Illnesses, In Abstract Book Of London '89: The Second International Conference On Health Law And Ethics (July 1989)., Marguerite Chapman

Marguerite Chapman

No abstract provided.