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The Origins Of American Health Libertarianism, Lewis A. Grossman

Lewis A. Grossman

This Article examines the persistent American demand for freedom of therapeutic choice as a popular constitutional movement originating in the nation’s earliest years. It also shows how multiple concepts of freedom, in addition to bodily freedom, have contributed to the concept of a constitutional right to medical liberty.

There is a deep current of belief in the United States that people have a right to choose their preferred treatments without government interference. Cries of “Death Panels” are routinely directed against health care reform proposals that might limit patients’ access to medical products and procedures. FDA is furiously attacked, on freedom …