Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Broken Promises: The Granite State’S Return To The Institutionalization Of Children With Disabilities, Elizabeth Trautz

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

In 1975, the New Hampshire legislature enacted a progressive statute which mandated the Department of Health and Human Services “to establish, maintain, implement and coordinate a comprehensive service delivery system for developmentally disabled persons.” This law was innovative for its time; it decreed that individual service plans (ISPs) be developed for every client in the state’s service delivery system, guaranteed “a right to adequate and humane habilitation and treatment[,]” and contemplated the state’s area agency system as we know it today. The statute was a steppingstone for the 1981 class action lawsuit of Garrity v. Gallen. This was one of …

Psychiatric Boarding In New Hampshire: Violation Of A Statutory Right To Treatment, James A. Mcclure

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "New Hampshire law provides for the involuntary commitment of a patient such as Jane when she is a danger to herself or others as a result of mental illness. The patient has a right to treatment under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 135-C:1, et seq. Specifically, the patient should receive "adequate and humane treatment" pursuant to an "individual service plan" and "in the least restrictive environment necessary." However, appropriate facilities often are not available for patients waiting in emergency rooms, and patients can become trapped for hours or even days. This phenomenon is called "psychiatric boarding."

New Hampshire is …

A Gateway To Future Problems: Concerns About The State By-State Legalization Of Medical Marijuana, Paul Lewis

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Before 2009, every American presidential administration had been uniform in its policy of consistently enforcing the nation’s drug laws. Pursuant to federal law, possession, use, or cultivation of any drug deemed illegal by Congress was, universally, a prosecutable offense. Notwithstanding this unwavering policy, throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the marijuana industry continued to grow, and several states legalized medicinal marijuana despite the standing federal prohibition. Moreover, President Barrack Obama, shortly after taking office, broke precedent with his predecessors when he put forth a policy of non-enforcement through a publicly released memorandum authored by the then Deputy Attorney General, …

Reopening The Discussion Of The Loss Of Opportunity Doctrine In New Hampshire: A Look At Decisions Made In Light Of Current Times, Benjamin Lajoie

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “A close family member is diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer and now only has a fifteen percent chance of survival. She soon dies. Prior to her diagnosis, she had routine screenings every two years, but her previous doctor failed to detect the then existing cancer when she would have had a fifty percent chance of survival. In New Hampshire, from a legal standpoint, there has been no wrong.

This legal concept of negligent medical care that causes a patient to have a lower percentage of survival, or a less favorable outcome, is referred to as the “loss of opportunity” …

From Trusted Confidant To Witness For The Prosecution: The Case Against The Recognition Of A Dangerous-Patient Exception To The Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege, Deborah Paruch

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “In 1996, in Jaffee v. Redmond, the U.S. Supreme Court, pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Rule of Evidence 501, recognized a psychotherapist-patient privilege in the federal courts. In doing so, the Court acknowledged the essential role that confidentiality plays in a therapist-patient relationship and also recognized the important role that psychotherapy plays in the mental health of the American citizenry. However, in dicta set out in a footnote near the conclusion of the opinion (footnote 19 of the opinion), the Court suggested that the privilege might not be absolute, that it might need to “give way …

Exhausted Or Unlicensed: Can Field-Of-Use Restrictions In Biotech License Agreements Still Prevent Off-Label Use Promotion After Quanta Computer?, Kristal M. Wicks

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “In the biotechnology (biotech) industry, companies must be increasingly aware of their intellectual property and how their licensing strategies can impact their rights. When licensing patented technology, it is common practice for biotech companies to include restricted field-of-use provisions in their license agreements. Such provisions permit a licensee to only use licensed technology in a defined field and restrict use or development in another field. This licensing strategy plays an important role within the biotech industry because it allows companies to more effectively control their intellectual property and to more efficiently research and develop pharmaceutical products.

A problem that …

One Toke Over The Line: The Proliferation Of State Medical Marijuana Laws, Troy E. Grandel

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Marijuana has been used for medicinal purposes for at least five thousand years. In fact, it was used medicinally in the United States up until the twentieth century when antidrug zealots managed to prohibit it. Prohibition was the status quo until 1996 when California became the first state to adopt a law allowing medicinal marijuana use. Since then, thirteen additional states, along with the District of Columbia, have enacted similar laws. More states are now lining up with their own laws, which are in various stages of adoption. In addition, the Supreme Court has impacted the issue, both with …

Stepping Beyond The Smith Plaintiffs‘ Reliance On Corso: An Alternative Approach To Recovering Emotional-Distress Damages In Wrongful-Birth Cases In New Hampshire, Parker B. Potter Jr.

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “More than twenty years ago, in Smith v. Cote, the New Hampshire Supreme Court held “that New Hampshire recognizes a cause of action for wrongful birth.” After so holding, the court then discussed the damages available to a prevailing wrongful-birth plaintiff. Among other things, the court held that when parental emotional distress associated with raising a disabled child, born after the mother had received negligent pre-natal assurance of the baby‘s normal health, “results in tangible pecuniary losses, such as medical expenses or counseling fees, such losses are recoverable.” The court further held that a wrongful-birth plaintiff may not recover …

Entitlements: Not Just A Health Care Problem, Andrew G. Biggs

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “A new consensus on entitlement reform has developed in Washington: rising per-capita health care spending is the only real crisis besetting the government‘s entitlement programs, while America‘s aging population and Social Security play minor roles at best. Some cite this view to shift the policy emphasis from entitlement cost control to the restructuring of the U.S. health sector, including private health care. But this new consensus is flawed. Using standard accounting practices and including all major government entitlement programs, population aging will play an equal role with health care cost growth over the next seventy-five years and a significantly …

Revisiting The Regulation Debate: The Effect Of Food Marketing On Childhood Obesity, Nicole E. Hunter

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Despite the widespread concern regarding childhood obesity, there is broad divergence of opinion regarding responsibility for the crisis. Whether the government, food industry, or parents are accountable has become the focus of much debate. Public health groups have attempted various strategies to confront childhood obesity, such as litigation, legislation, and government regulation. While many researchers and advocates agree that government should play an affirmative role with respect to childhood obesity, they are very much divided over what that role should be. For example, although none of these acts has become law, eighty-six bills have been proposed regarding obesity since …

Stealing What's Free: Exploring Compensation To Body Parts Sources For Their Contribution To Profitable Biomedical Research, Jo-Anne Yau

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “At first blush, donating body parts in the name of science appears to be a beautiful solution to the problem of scarce body parts for research advancements. But a closer investigation reveals an ugly fact: the philanthropic donors—referred to as “Sources” in this article—are subjected to physical and financial exploitation.

Sources play a crucial and indispensable role in biotechnology. Without human body parts, most medical discoveries would not have been possible. Handsome profits can be derived from successful discoveries. But currently in the United States, when a Source provides body parts for research purposes, the researcher, research foundation, and …

Bayer Ag V. Housey Pharmaceuticals: Protection For Biotechnological Research Tools Under Section 271(G) Found Wanting, Matthew Barthalow

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Research tools, a subset of biotechnological inventions protected by process patents, are “tools that scientists use in the laboratory, including cell lines, monoclonal antibodies, reagents, animal models, growth factors, combinatorial chemistry and DNA libraries, clones and cloning tools (such as PCR), methods, laboratory equipment and machines.” Many companies base their business models on the ability to find pharmaceutical products using their proprietary drug discovery research tools. Research tools used for drug discovery ‘include bioinformatic methods for identifying the interaction of certain proteins and their association with disease, methods for confirming protein targets, screening assays to identify molecules active against …

Freedom Of Thought, Offensive Fantasies And The Fundamental Human Right To Hold Deviant Ideas: Why The Seventh Circuit Got It Wrong In Doe V. City Of Lafayette, Indiana, Clay Calvert

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “A precarious balance and considerable tension exists between two competing legal interests – the essential, First Amendment-grounded human right to freedom of thought, on the one hand, and the desire to prevent harm and injury that might occur if thought is converted to action, on the other. To understand this tension, it is useful to start by considering three different and disturbing factual scenarios.

This article examines and critiques the majority opinion of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in City of Lafayette. The majority held that the city’s ban of John Doe, a convicted sex offender, from its …

Live Smoke Free Or Die: The Battle For Smoke Free Restaurants In New Hampshire, Jody Hodgdon

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "The need for a strict statutory scheme prohibiting or effectively segregating tobacco smoke in restaurants and public buildings in New Hampshire is compelling. One evening, during the summer of 2003, I took my wife and daughter to a restaurant in New Hampshire for dinner. When the time came to be seated, the waiter asked if we preferred to be seated in the smoking or non-smoking section. At our request, he led us to the non- smoking section. Over the course of dinner, I considered the irony of why the restaurant even had a non-smoking section. Smoke was coming over …

Co-Operation In Health And Safety: A Game Theory Analysis, Sylvie Nadeau

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Health and safety managers face complex challenges in today’s production environments. They are confronted with increasingly flexible, autonomous and polyvalent contexts. Asymmetry of information on the workplace is widespread because various intervening parties rely on information lacking conformity. Social partners generate and use information which supports or benefits their pursuit of differing goals. Ascertaining and controlling this information can prove both difficult and costly. When addressing health and safety issues, one intervening partner alters or changes behavior in response to changes introduced by the other side. Strategic behaviors result, based on post-contract opportunism (moral hazard) and alliances with partners …

An Overview Of Progress In The International Regulation Of The Pharmaceutical Industry, Joan Costa-Font, Aaron Burakoff Harvard University; University Of Barcelona

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The pharmaceutical industry, a significant source of healthcare throughout the world, has several features that distinguish it from the rest of the health industry. In the last half-century, new technology, better technological know-how, and overall economic growth have led to widespread and rapid growth in the pharmaceutical sector. Advancements in pharmaceutical research and development have led to the production of drugs that can routinely combat afflictions that, only years ago, were untreatable or even fatal. Since 1970, the average share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on pharmaceutical goods has increased in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) …

Historical Development Of The Linear Nonthreshold Dose-Response Model As Applied To Radiation, Ronald L. Kathren

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Despite the nearly universal adoption of the linear nonthreshold dose response model (LNT) as the primary basis for radiation protection standards for the past half century, the LNT remains highly controversial and a contentious topic of discussion among health physicists, radiation biologists, and other radiological scientists. Indeed, it has been pointed out that the LNT has assumed the status of a paradigm, synonymous with an ideal, standard, or paragon or perhaps to some, a sacred cow. Reduced to its very basics, the LNT postulates that every increment of ionizing radiation dose, however small, carries with it a commensurate increase …

Review Of "The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, And Public Policy (Basic Bioethics)," Edited By Suzanne Holland, Karen Lebacqz, And Laurie Zoloth, James Steele

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Perhaps like others, I started "The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate" not knowing many of the finer points of embryonic stem cell research, but I certainly had an opinion. This issue is far more complex than I had initially imagined. The editors do a commendable effort of compiling a sample of the innumerable arguments surrounding the debate."

How Should Governments Address High Levels Of Natural Radiation And Radon--Lessons From The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident And Ramsar, Iran, S. M. Javad Mortazavi, M. Ghiassi-Nejad, Azam Niroomand-Rad, P. Andrew Karam, John R. Cameron

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors discuss the high levels of natural background radiation in Ramsar, Iran, and offer data indicating that this has had little effect on the health of Ramsar's inhabitants. The authors then examine the implications their research could have for public health policy.

Bse: Risk, Uncertainty, And Policy Change, Enda Cummins, Pat Grace, Kevin Mcdonnell, Shane Ward

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors discuss how, in our "risk society," a range of potential risks and uncertainties are associated with new technologies and new diseases, such as BSE. These risks bring with them worries about human health, while the ability to assess and manage new health scares is an essential skill for government and related industries.

The Precautionary Principle And Radiation Protection, Kenneth L. Mossman, Gary E. Marchant

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors examine the application of the precautionary principle through a case study of ionizing radiation control and suggest a reevaluation of current radiation safety standards and practices.

Comparing Bottled Water And Tap Water: Experiments In Risk Communication, Branden B. Johnson

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author discusses results of experiments in risk communication comparing bottled water and tap water.

Public Reaction To Mandated Language For U.S. Drinking Water Quality Reports, Branden B. Johnson

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author discusses results of a survey evaluating the mandated language for United States drinking water quality reports.

Review Of: Preventing And Controlling Cancer In North America: A Cross- Cultural Perspective (Diane Weiner, Ed.), Hunter Yancey

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of the book: Preventing and Controlling Cancer in North America: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Diane Weiner, ed., Praeger Publishers 1999). Illustrations, Introduction, Concluding Remarks, Bibliography, Index, About the Contributors. ISBN 0-275-96180-X [245 pp. $72.50 Hardbound, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881.]

Judging The Risk Of Becoming Infected Through Sexual Encounters, Simeone Arnaud, Daniele Hermand, Etienne Mullet

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors examine the manner in which people integrate pieces of information to assess the risk of becoming infected through sexual encounters.

Workplace Pollution: Nuclear Safety, Ethics, And The Exploitation--Avoidance Argument, Kristin Shrader-Frechette

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author reviews evidence of poor worker health and safety practices in United States Department of Energy nuclear facilities in contending that less protective standards for workplace hazards constitute an environmental injustice not rectified by a hazard pay premium.

Contrasting Treatments Of Recall Bias In Two Epidemiological Settings, Daniel Barry

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author contrasts the treatment of recall bias in the literature on induced abortions and breast cancer, and on environmental tobacco smoke and lung cancer.

Looking Back At Fluoridation, Allan Mazur

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author reviews the 50-year history of the debate over fluoridating drinking water as a public health measure.

Attitudes Of Risk Management Professionals Toward Disclosure Of Medical Mistakes, Kathleen Ruroede

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author reports on health care organization risk managers' attitudes toward disclosure of medical mistakes.

Risk Communication, The Hanford Thyroid Disease Study And Draft Reports, Sharon M. Friedman

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author reviews the release of the draft Hanford Thyroid Disease Study as a case study in risk communication problems arising from public disclosure of draft reports.