Digital Commons Network^™

The Next Public Health Frontier With Indoor Air Quality, Lynette B. Martins

Tulsa Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Band-Aid Solution: The Need For A Better Treatment Plan For The Physician Burnout Crisis, Sarah Mangroo

Annals of Health Law and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court During Covid-19: Keeping Its Head When Those About It Were Losing Theirs, Timothy C. Macdonnell

Scholarly Articles

Alexander Hamilton's Federalist No. 78 suggests that one of the reasons for a life-tenured judiciary whose pay cannot be altered is because "judges may be an essential safeguard against the effects of occasional ill humours in the society." Our Nation's history is replete with instances of ill humor leading to violations of constitutional rights. Wars, epidemics, natural disasters, civil unrest, and economic crises all demand governments to act and act swiftly. But courts, and particularly the United States Supreme Court, are necessary to check governments when they go too far in contending with an emergency.

Historically the country's courts have …

Inteligencia Artificial Y Desinformación En Internet: Regulaciones (In)Compatibles Con Los Estándares De Protección Del Derecho A La Libertad De Expresión En El Derecho Internacional De Los Derechos Humanos, Trilce Gabriela Valdivia Aguilar

American University International Law Review

Durante los casi dos años de confinamiento debido a la pandemia por COVID-19, muchas de nuestras interacciones “en vivo” se trasladaron al mundo virtual. Asimismo, las redes sociales se convirtieron en una de nuestras principales fuentes de información y también en los medios más usados para comunicarnos y debatir con nuestros pares. Lamentablemente las mismas no estuvieron siempre sustentadas en información certera, sino más bien en información falsa, que circulaba en medio de viciosas burbujas donde nos era imposible conocer opiniones o pareceres contrarios a los nuestros.

Cronyism In Creating Chronic Disease—A Path To Food Justice, Martha Leonard

St. Thomas Law Review

Central to this discussion is a quote often attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” Today, physicians recognize the crucial role of diet in maintaining good health and preventing chronic disease, but U.S. laws fail to reflect this understanding. The health field has seen significant progress in scientific research on pathology; however, nutritional research presents a challenging and contradictory landscape. Corporate influence in scientific research leads to a lack of consensus on the most optimal diet for promoting general health, presenting a challenge for policymaking. The dark reality is that …

Factory Farms And Labor Law: Can Unionization Get The Job Done?, Miranda Herreid

Animal Law Review

At different moments in U.S. history, workers have joined together to fight for a better future. Now more than ever, as industries become increas-ingly consolidated and powerful, workers’ ability to band together and ad-vocate for their rights is integral. Recent victories in labor rights have not yet made their way to the industrial animal agricultural sphere. This is unfortunate, as the conditions at slaughterhouses and concentrated animal feeding operations are extractive and abusive towards workers and animals alike. In the past, strong union presence in slaughterhouses aided workers in achieving wage increases and job stability. However, this resulted in extreme …

Tackling The Next Public Health Crisis: Lessons Regarding Long-Term Care From The Covid Era, M. Sara Rosenthal, Keith R. Knapp, Laura Morton

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

This paper reviews multiple ethical and clinical issues during the COVID era affecting long-term care. The authors are members of one of many long-term care COVID task forces[1] that emerged in multiple jurisdictions to address a pandemic emergency. This paper applies the pandemic ethics literature that informed healthcare providers during COVID and recommends adjusting health messaging and communication that may shift responsiveness in the next public health crisis.

[1]. Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Long-Term Care Advisory Task Force (in alphabetical order): Muhammad Babar, MD, MBA, MSc, CMD, SNF medical director; Belinda Beard, BS, RN, Division Director, …

The Intersection Of Regulation, Quality Care Delivery, And Ethics And Compliance: Look Carefully Before Crossing!, David R. Hoffman, Ilene Warner-Maron

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Quality and compliant care delivery in nursing homes remains elusive. Four main interests are currently misaligned, thereby putting nursing home residents at risk of harm. Without a clearly defined commitment to quality and compliant care and alignment of these interests, nursing home residents will remain vulnerable to severe harm.

The first key interest concerns nursing home ownership and management. Currently, over seventy percent of nursing homes are owned by for-profit entities. Previous ownership models, including non-profit, religious-based, and county-owned facilities, have largely closed or transitioned to for-profit entities. The shift in ownership significantly impacts quality and compliant care delivery. Unfortunately, …

The Impact Of Veterinary Stewardship Program Implementations On Backyard Chicken Farming In Rural Georgia, Lauren Ashley Herrin

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

In this article, Lauren Ashley Herrin examines the impacts of new FDA veterinary stewardship regulations on backyard chicken farming in rural Georgia. She explains that requiring prescriptions for previously over-the-counter antibiotics disproportionately harms low-income and rural communities by limiting access to affordable veterinary care, worsening risks of disease spread and public health threats. Herrin argues for policy approaches that balance antimicrobial resistance concerns with the realities of rural accessibility. She proposes solutions such as telehealth veterinary consultations, scholarship programs to encourage rural veterinary practice, and expanding prescriptive authority for veterinary technicians to ensure sustainable animal health care in underserved areas

Public-Private Partnerships After Murthy V. Missouri, Danielle Keats Citron, Jeff Stautberg

Indiana Law Journal

This Essay considers the future of public-private collaboration in the wake of the Murthy v. Missouri litigation, which cast doubt on the constitutionality of information sharing between federal agencies and social media companies. The litigation has been a good and a bad teacher. On one hand, the lower court decisions made legible the risks to free expression, accountability, transparency, and intimate privacy posed by government-industry collaborations. On the other hand, the litigation chilled information sharing between federal agencies, state election officials, and social media companies at the moment that such collaboration could and should help protect against foreign malign influence …

From Myriad To Moderna: The Modern (Bio)Pharmaceutical Company, Ana Santos Rutschman

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article examines the emergence of two modern pharmaceutical companies: Myriad and Moderna. After providing a brief background on each company, this Article contrasts them across the following areas: the technologies they have brought to market; their location; their start-up stages and the role that venture capital played in catalyzing their evolution from start-ups to large corporate structures; their relationships with other entities in the private sector, in academia and in the public sector; and their intellectual property and licensing strategies.

Property Law— Squaring The Mold Predicament With Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law, Katherine James Clark

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unconcerned And Undertrained: The Indiana Jail Death Epidemic And The Need For Expanded Jail Officer Training, Sadie Rothrock

Indiana Law Journal

On October 4, 2018, Jerod Draper lost his life after two hours of torture by Harrison County jail officers. While in custody of the jail and suffering from an overdose, Jerod Draper was placed in a restraint chair for two hours and tased seven times in fifteen minutes. Jerod Draper’s story is one of the many stories demonstrating how a jail death epidemic is occurring throughout Indiana. In this Note, I discuss the history of incarceration in the United States, the statutes under which families of jail death victims can sue, and Indiana’s jail death problem. I then highlight Indiana’s …

The United States Healthcare System: From Medicare To Post-Pandemic Health Policy, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

My purpose in this essay is to comment on national health policy in the United States over the past sixty years.  My conclusions are less optimistic than what I had hoped when I began my teaching and research career in the 1990s to be able to say in 2025.  In particular, the successful expansion of publicly supported health coverage via the passage of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Obamacare”) in 2010 seems to have triggered -- though I hesitate to say that it caused – a backsliding from broader commitments to clinical performance, population health, and social solidarity that …

Cause Of Death? -- It's Probably Not What's Reported On The Death Certificate, Lauren R. Roth

Lewis & Clark Law Review

In the age of big data, this country has a data problem—inaccurate and incomplete information in death certificates. The problem has long been hidden by the numbers reported—as have the people whose deaths go uncounted, but the COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the scope of the issue. Since the beginning of the pandemic, “excess deaths” (i.e., any deaths above the number predicted by existing mortality models) have increased significantly. Most of these excess deaths are likely attributable to COVID-19 because the decedent was never tested for COVID-19 or it was one of multiple factors contributing to their death. Other deaths are uncounted …

Best Kept Secret: The Hidden Health Costs Of Corporate Confidentiality, Cynthia M. Ho

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Although patents are well known to negatively impact health when drugs are unaffordable, trade secrets also harm health, and in more ways than patents. Patented drugs harm public health simply by temporarily increasing prices on treatments. Trade secrets, on the other hand, can not only increase treatment costs, but also hide knowledge needed for effective medical treatment. Also, because patents, but not trade secrets, have a limited term, patent health harms clearly terminate while trade secret harms do not. Moreover, the public may not even be fully aware of all trade secret health harms because trade secret information is, by …

Legacy Of Buck V. Bell: Women’S Bodies As Border Wall, Georgia Macedo Cardoso

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Cyclical Health Disparities And The Future Of The Indian Health Service, Emily York

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Popular Sovereignty And A Right To Know About The Government, David S. Ardia

Faculty Publications

This Article argues that the U.S. Constitution implicitly contains a structural “right to know” about the government, rooted in the doctrine of popular sovereignty rather than the First Amendment. Democratic self‑government requires public access to governmental information; without it, the people cannot exercise informed consent or their sovereign authority. The Article critiques reliance on purely statutory transparency regimes such as FOIA, noting their fragility and susceptibility to political rollback. Through historical and structural analysis, it shows that the Framers viewed an informed citizenry as essential to maintaining checks and balances. The Article proposes three principles for operationalizing a constitutional right …

Political Disinformation In The Anthropocene, Jeffrey Omari

Washington and Lee Law Review

The Anthropocene is the name that scientists have given to our current geological epoch, which references the overwhelming influence of human agency on the Earth and its ecological systems. Adopted as a theoretical tool across multiple academic disciplines, social scientists often employ the term to address deep-rooted political and socioeconomic problems and the symptoms of global inequalities and injustices. Meanwhile, legal scholars have employed the term to address the global environmental harms of human agency and to examine how normative frameworks must fundamentally change and adapt to the times ahead. At the same time, recent scholarship also notes that democracies …

Recent Expansion Of Gubernatorial Emergency Powers To Address The Covid-19 Pandemic: Examining Applications For The Climate Crisis, Juliet Israel

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

With a particular focus on the states of California and Florida, this Note delves into the leadership roles assumed by governors when addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic, evaluates the applicability of this gubernatorial strategy to the climate crisis, and examines the criticisms and constitutional challenges to expanding gubernatorial emergency powers. Part I explores the core similarities and differences between the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Part II addresses the failure of federal and international policy responses to both the pandemic and climate change. Part III details the states’ use of gubernatorial emergency powers to respond to COVID-19. Part IV then …

‘Preventing Births’ As A Gender-Neutral Harm: Making Sense Of Reproductive Violence In South Africa’S Genocide Case Against Israel, Heidi Matthews

Articles & Book Chapters

Abstract In its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, South Africa alleges that, in the period since October 7, 2023, Israel has imposed measures intended to prevent births within the Palestinian group in Gaza. To the extent that South Africa’s case for ‘preventing births’ relies on the traditional framing of reproductive justice, wherein violations are conceptualized in terms of restrictions on reproductive (read: women’s) health and capacity, it risks advancing the human rights of ‘women and children’ at the expense of a more progressive development of the law of genocide. This article uses the ongoing genocidal …

Advancing Virtual Care Practices Across The Cognitive Impairment Continuum, Tara Sklar, Kathryn Huber

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

As the population of older adults grows, providing high-quality, costeffective healthcare for those with cognitive impairments is an increasing priority. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards receiving virtual care at home through temporary Medicare flexibilities. However, the uncertainty surrounding the continuing extension of these flexibilities at the federal level and variations in reimbursement policies across the states present challenges for virtual care practices to meet the rising demand for care amid unprecedented workforce shortages. Sustainable, long-term reimbursement at the federal and state levels, a trained and integrated healthcare workforce, and adherence to recognized accreditation standards and guidelines are essential …

Dialing In Or Dialing Out? The Relationships Between State Telemedicine Law And Access To Buprenorphine, Stacey A. Tovino

Faculty Articles

This Article begins by reporting the results of a comprehensive 50-state survey assessing state laws and other state sources governing the telemedicine induction (“tele-induction”) and subsequent telemedicine prescription (“tele-prescription”) of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (“OUD”) following the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). Original, concrete findings include: (1) the glaring patchwork of state law governing the tele-induction and subsequent tele-prescription of buprenorphine for the treatment of OUD in the United States; (2) the variety of primary authorities and secondary sources that house relevant permissions, prohibitions, and affiliated requirements; (3) the number of primary authorities …

Preventing Chemical And Biological Attacks: Enhanced Threats Requiring Enhanced Solutions, Alex Elliot Ottoni-Belval

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Chemical weapons (CW) and biological weapons (BW) are becoming more dangerous for experts to employ and more accessible to amateurs. Despite CW and BW attacks throughout history that killed and maimed millions of people, the international community has failed to establish meaningful consequences to prevent them. Agreements such as the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention vow to eliminate and reduce the effects of CWs and BWs but lack respected response precedents and capabilities. The limited and inconsistent enforcement has inadvertently allowed CWs and BWs to become plausible weapons, especially to gain asymmetric advantages, while modern developments exasperate …

The Supreme Court During Covid-19: Keeping Its Head When Those About It Were Losing Theirs, Timothy C. Macdonnell

South Dakota Law Review

Alexander Hamilton's Federalist No. 78 suggests that one of the reasons for a life-tenured judiciary whose pay cannot be altered is because "judges may be an essential safeguard against the effects of occasional ill humours in the society." Our Nation's history is replete with instances of ill humor leading to violations of constitutional rights. Wars, epidemics, natural disasters, civil unrest, and economic crises all demand governments to act and act swiftly. But courts, and particularly the United States Supreme Court, are necessary to check governments when they go too far in contending with an emergency. Historically the country's courts have …

In Through The Side Door: Anti-Asian Nativism, U.S. Immigration, And Foreign Policy—A Legal History And Case Study, Deenesh Sohoni, Vivian E. Hamilton, Chinua Thelwell

Faculty Publications

The 19th- and early 20th-centuries were marked by pervasive anti-Asian sentiment, and antipathy towards people of color more generally. Giving legal effect to the anti-Asian nativism prevalent at the time, U.S. policies prohibited most Asian immigration and naturalization. In particular, immigration laws sought to exclude Asian laborers and working-class immigrants from entry. During the same period, however, the federal government determined that other Asian visitors—especially Chinese government officials, merchants, religious leaders, and students—could be useful in advancing U.S. political and economic interests abroad. Thus, in marked contrast to its inhospitable treatment of their working-class counterparts, U.S. policy facilitated the entry …

Tribal Health Self-Determination: The Role Of Tribal Health Systems In Actualizing The Highest Attainable Standard Of Health For American Indians And Alaska Natives, Vanessa Ann Racehorse

Publications

In this Article, I explore the concept of Tribal self-determination in the context of systems that serve American Indian and Alaska Native communities. I investigate the vast health disparities that exist in Tribal communities, as well as the history and current legal framework for the provision of health care in Indian Country. Part of this discussion also provides information on the federal laws and policies that have fractured the traditional lifeways of Native communities and contributed to the disparate health outcomes that now exist. I also provide background on the fundamental federal laws and policies, particularly the Indian Self-Determination and …

A Transformational Agenda For National Security, Maryam Jamshidi

Publications

Past efforts to "reimagine" national security in legal scholarship have largely avoided systematic engagement with the foundational assumptions and presumptions of the field. Challenging and critiquing those assumptions is, however, necessary to producing scholarly work that reimagines, rather than reproduces, status quo approaches to U.S. national security. This Article presents an agenda for reimagining national security through legal scholarship, which is premised on the view that challenging the national security status quo should be part of those efforts. In doing so, this agenda explores seven premises central to how U.S. national security is currently conceived of, practiced, and implemented. Moving …

Displaying Wastewater Surveillance Data: An Ethics Framework, Govind Persad, Anne Barnhill, Douglas Mackay

Publications

No abstract provided.