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Full-Text Articles in Law
When Does A Major Outbreak Become A Public Health Emergency Of International Concern?, David N. Durrheim, Lawrence O. Gostin, Keymanthri Moodley
When Does A Major Outbreak Become A Public Health Emergency Of International Concern?, David N. Durrheim, Lawrence O. Gostin, Keymanthri Moodley
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
The process of determining whether a Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) exists and should be declared has drawn increasing criticism over the past few years with allegations that it is more political than technical. Delaying declaration, where appropriate, means that the opportunity of garnering international solidarity and necessary resources in the early phases of epidemics, when public health measures may be more effective, is lost. A reform agenda aimed at enhancing WHO/Emergency Committee transparency and objectivity for the PHEIC declaration process is required.
“Big” Food, Tobacco, And Alcohol: Reducing Industry Influence On Noncommunicable Disease Prevention Laws And Policies, Belinda Reeve, Lawrence O. Gostin
“Big” Food, Tobacco, And Alcohol: Reducing Industry Influence On Noncommunicable Disease Prevention Laws And Policies, Belinda Reeve, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
The food, tobacco and alcohol industries have penetrated markets in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with a significant impact on these countries’ burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Tangcharoensathien and colleagues describe the aggressive marketing of unhealthy food, alcohol and tobacco in LMICs, as well as key tactics used by these industries to resist laws and policies designed to reduce behavioural risk factors for NCDs. This commentary expands on the recommendations made by Tangcharoensathien and colleagues for preventing or managing conflicts of interest and reducing undue industry influence on NCD prevention policies and laws, focusing on the needs of LMICs. A …
Can Law Improve Prevention And Treatment Of Cancer?, Roger Magnusson, Lawrence O. Gostin, David Studdert
Can Law Improve Prevention And Treatment Of Cancer?, Roger Magnusson, Lawrence O. Gostin, David Studdert
O'Neill Institute Papers
The December 2011 issue of Public Health (the Journal of the Royal Society for Public Health) contains a symposium entitled: Legislate, Regulate, Litigate? Legal approaches to the prevention and treatment of cancer. This symposium explores the possibilities for using law and regulation – both internationally and at the national level – as the policy instrument for preventing and improving the treatment of cancer and other leading non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In this editorial, we argue that there is an urgent need for more legal scholarship on cancer and other leading NCDs, as well as greater dialogue between lawyers, public health practitioners …
Mapping The Issues: Public Health, Law And Ethics, Lawrence O. Gostin
Mapping The Issues: Public Health, Law And Ethics, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
The field of public health is typically regarded as a positivistic pursuit and, undoubtedly, our understanding of the etiology and response to disease is heavily influenced by scientific inquiry. Public health policies, however, are shaped not only by science but also by ethical values, legal norms, and political oversight. Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader (expanded and updated 2nd ed., 2010) probes and seeks to illuminate this complex interplay, through a careful selection of government reports, scholarly articles, and court cases together with discussion and analysis of critical problems at the interface of law, ethics, and public health. The …
Redressing The Unconscionable Health Gap: A Global Plan For Justice, Lawrence O. Gostin
Redressing The Unconscionable Health Gap: A Global Plan For Justice, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Consider two children—one born in sub-Saharan Africa and the other in the United States. The African child is twenty-five times more likely to die in the first five years of life; if she lives to child-bearing age, she is a two hundred times more likely to die in labor; and overall, she will die thirty years earlier than the American child. The international community is deeply resistant to taking bold remedial action—more concerned with their geostrategic interests than the health of the poor. The scale of foreign aid is both insufficient and unsustainable and fails to address the key determinants …
The National Individual Health Insurance Mandate: Ethics And The Constitution, Lawrence O. Gostin
The National Individual Health Insurance Mandate: Ethics And The Constitution, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Within weeks, after signing the nation’s first comprehensive health insurance reform, twenty states filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Bill’s most politically charged feature—an individual purchase mandate. If anything, the tax penalty is too low compared with the cost of insurance, so it may not sufficiently incentivize healthy individuals. But it remains deeply controversial because it compels individuals to purchase coverage they choose not to have, raising the question whether Congress can lawfully and ethically require individuals to contract with, and transfer money to, a private party. To be sure, the individual mandate lacks a clear American precedent. (It …
The Unconscionable Health Gap: A Global Plan For Justice, Lawrence O. Gostin
The Unconscionable Health Gap: A Global Plan For Justice, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
International norms recognize the special value of health. The WHO Constitution states that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” is a fundamental human right. The right to health, moreover, is a treaty obligation with clear obligations. Despite robust international norms, unconscionable health disparities exist between the world’s rich and poor, causing enormous suffering. The WHO urges “closing the health gap in a generation” through action on the social determinants of health. As the Marmot Commission observed: “the social conditions in which people are born, live, and work are the single most important determinant of good or ill …