Digital Commons Network^™

Toward A Constructive Engagement: Agricultural Biotechnology As A Public Health Incentive In Less-Developed Countries, Chidi Oguamanam

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Discourses on global public health crises, especially as they impact the less-developed world, focus mostly on the issue of access to life-saving drugs for needy populations. Also, they implicate the misalignment of global pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) agenda with the health needs of the poor. Equally attracting significant attention is the role of intellectual property in driving up the cost of drugs and exacerbating the drug access freeze to needy populations. More often, the conceptual strings of these discussions are woven around a complex interaction of themes, including those of globalization, the development narrative, and strategic changes in international …

Legitimate Exercises Of The Police Power Or Compensable Takings: Courts May Recognize Private Property Rights, Terence J. Centner

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Under their police power, governments regulate nuisances and take actions in emergency situations. For protecting humans, animals, and plants from diseases and other pests (jointly referred to as diseases), governments order inoculations, quarantine items and people, and seize and destroy property.' With respect to plants and animals, the United States Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prohibit the importation and movement of items than may be infested. The Secretary also has the authority to hold, treat, and destroy items to prevent the dissemination of plant and animal pests. State governments take additional actions to prevent the introduction and dissemination of …

Sex, Privacy And Public Health In A Casual Encounters Culture, Mary D. Fan

Articles

The regulation of sex and disease is a cultural and political flashpoint and recurring challenge that law's antiquated arsenal has been hard- pressed to effectively address. Compelling data demonstrate the need for attention—for example, one in four women aged fourteen to nineteen is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease ("STD"); managing STDs costs an estimated $15.9 billion annually; and syphilis, once near eradication, is on the rise again, as are the rates of HIV diagnosis among people aged fifteen to twenty-four. Public health officials on the front lines have called for paradigm changes to tackle the enormous challenge. …

A Punitive Precondition For Preventive Detention: Lost Status As A Foundation For A Lost Immunity, Alec Walen

San Diego Law Review

This Article argues that the presumption that an actor will be law-abiding, like the right to liberty itself, can be forfeited by criminal actions. In other words, the point is to argue that a just punishment could involve loss of the status of being a beneficiary of this presumption just as much as it could involve the loss of liberty.

In Part II, I introduce a basic framework for detention consistent with respect for autonomy and locate the lost status view within that framework. In Part III, I spell out the lost status view in more detail and contrast it …

Get The Balance Right!: Squaring Access With Patent Protection, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga

McGeorge School of Law Global Center for Business and Development Annual Symposium

Moderator: Michael Mireles, Associate Professor of Law, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

This panel will examine the impact of human rights norms on substantive intellectual property law. The focus of the panel is whether intellectual property law is adequately flexible to provide access to knowledge, in the form of primary and secondary materials as well as scientific materials, access to medicines, and access to food, such as seeds. The panel will further explore whether any flexibilities incorporated into intellectual property law harm the incentives provided by that law, including an analysis of parallel importation.

The Intersection Of Tort And Environmental Law: Where The Twains Should Meet And Depart, Mark Latham, Victor E. Schwartz, Christopher E. Appel

Fordham Law Review

The explosion of environmental statutes over the past forty years, giving rise to the field of environmental law, has created a critical and evolving question in our legal system as to how this comparatively new field of law intersects with the common law of torts. Defining the proper role of tort law in remedying environmental injuries is an important matter of public policy; the answer will determine what the tort system can and cannot achieve, inform what it should and should not achieve, and clarify which common law enforcement areas are actually voids. This information assists the judiciary on its …

Court Of Appeals Of New York: Wooley V. New York State Department Of Correctional Services, Joseph Leocata

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Improving The Population’S Health: The Affordable Care Act And The Importance Of Integration, Lorian E. Hardcastle, Katherine L. Record, Peter D. Jacobson, Lawrence O. Gostin

O'Neill Institute Papers

Heath care and public health are typically conceptualized as separate, albeit overlapping, systems. Health care’s goal is the improvement of individual patient outcomes through the provision of medical services. In contrast, public health is devoted to improving health outcomes in the population as a whole through health promotion and disease prevention. Health care services receive the bulk of funding and political support, while public health is chronically starved of resources. In order to reduce morbidity and mortality, policymakers must shift their attention to public health services and to the improved integration of health care and public health. In other words, …

A Global Panopticon - The Changing Role Of International Organizations In The Information Age, Jennifer Shkabatur

Michigan Journal of International Law

The outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 and Swine Flu (H1N1) in 2009 captured a great deal of global attention. The swift spread of these diseases wreaked havoc, generated public hysteria, disrupted global trade and travel, and inflicted severe economic losses to countries, corporations, and individuals. Although affected states were required to report to the World Health Organization (WHO) events that may have constituted a public health emergency, many failed to do so. The WHO and the rest of the international community were therefore desperate for accurate, up-to-date information as to the nature of the pandemics, their …

Revisiting The Original Tea Party: The History Of Regulating Food Consumption In America, Alison Peck

Law Faculty Scholarship

In response to concerns over rising obesity rates, state and federal policymakers have introduced laws that seek to internalize the public health costs of consuming unhealthy foods. These laws range from taxes on sugared beverages to mandatory nutritional information disclosures and beyond. Vocal opponents to such laws, including many Tea Party members, characterize such laws as government overreaching into the private sphere. That opposition often evokes Revolutionary images and ideology, with references to the Boston Tea Party, the Founding Fathers, and the framing of the Constitution. This article challenges the symbolism used by these opponents by examining the pre-Revolutionary non-importation …

The Triumph And Failure Of International Law, Ruth Gordon

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Does Accuracy Improve The Information Value Of Trials?, Scott Baker, Anup Malani

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

We develop a model where products liability trials provide information to consumers who are not parties to the litigation. Consumers use this information to take precautions against dangerous products. A critical assumption is that consumers cannot differentiate between firms that have never been sued and firms that have been sued but settled out of court. In this framework, we show that perfectly accurate courts do not maximize information to consumers and thus welfare, contrary to Kaplow and Shavell (1994). More accurate courts provide more information only if producers go to trial. Greater accuracy, however, encourages producers of dangerous products to …

An Ecosystem-Based Approach To Slowing The Synergistic Effects Of Invasive Species And Climate Change, David A. Strifling

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Do We Value Our Cars More Than Our Kids? The Conundrum Of Care For Children , Palma Joy Strand

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Formal child care workers in the United States earn about $21,110 per year. Parking lot attendants, in contrast, make $21,250. These relative wages are telling: the market values the people who look after our cars more than the people who look after our kids.

This article delves below the surface of these numbers to explore the systemic disadvantages of those who care for children—and children themselves. The article first illuminates the precarious economic position of U.S. children, a disproportionate number of whom live in poverty. The article then shows both that substantial care for children is provided on an unpaid …

Does Accuracy Improve The Information Value Of Trials?, Scott Baker, Anup Malani

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

We develop a model where products liability trials provide information to consumers who are not parties to the litigation. Consumers use this information to take precautions against dangerous products. A critical assumption is that consumers cannot differentiate between firms that have never been sued and firms that have been sued but settled out of court. In this framework, we show that perfectly accurate courts do not maximize information to consumers and thus welfare, contrary to Kaplow and Shavell (1994). More accurate courts provide more information only if producers go to trial. Greater accuracy, however, encourages producers of dangerous products to …

A Decade After Drug Decriminalization: What Can The United States Learn From The Portuguese Model?, Jordan Blair Woods

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Push Comes To Shove: Mandatory Immunization In Times Of Pandemic-Type Emergencies, Philip P. Houle, Suzanne R. Houle

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Gambling With Lives: A History Of Occupational Health In Southern Nevada, 1905--2010, Michelle Ann Turk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In April 2009, the Pulitzer committee awarded its public service prize to the Las Vegas Sun for its coverage of the high fatalities on Las Vegas Strip construction sites. The newspaper attributed failures in safety policy to "the exponential growth in the Las Vegas market." In fact, since Las Vegas' founding in 1905, rapid development in the region has always strained occupational health standards. From transporting hazardous railroad cargoes to building Hoover Dam, chemical processing at Basic Magnesium, nuclear testing, and dense megaresort construction on the Strip, workers, residents, and tourists alike have been exposed to the threat of living …

Influenza Vaccination Of The Healthcare Workforce: Developing A Model State Law, Alexandra M. Stewart, Marisa A Cox

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Punitive Damages In South Carolina: With Clarity Comes Uncertainty, Kyle A. Brannon

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Color Of Water: Observations Of A Brown Buffalo In Ten Stanzas, Tom Romero

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Chip Off The Old Block: Familial Dna Searches And The African American Community, Brett Mares

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

The Freedom Of Health, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article first draws out the freedom of health from Supreme Court precedent and demonstrates that, like other substantive constitutional rights, the freedom of health is a negative liberty that must be balanced against legitimate and compelling regulatory projects. The Article then applies that understanding of the freedom to evaluate some proposed and actual health care regulations that have made headline news in the last decade. I consider the constitutionality of the phantom death panels, the HlNl vaccine distribution program, the FDA's restrictions on access to experimental drugs, PPACA's obesity and smoking regulations, and, of course, PPACA's individual mandate. Should …

Prohibiting Medical Method Patents: A Criticism Of The Status Quo, Mark S. Wilke

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Methods of medical treatment are not patentable in Canada. This means that inventions involving the performance of surgery, administration of medicine, or extraction of fluids or tissue for diagnostic tests cannot directly be protected under the current patent regime. However, this prohibition is not an absolute ban. Many medical innovations are patentable, including surgical tools and devices, drugs and other chemical compounds, medical “uses”, diagnostic assays and methods of treat- ing “natural” conditions. The practical reality is that the distinction between what is and what is not patentable is poorly defined. This uncertainty presents a steep challenge for inventors and …

The Role Of Dna Patents In Genetic Test Innovation And Access, Andrew S. Robertson

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

The Joint Action And Learning Initiative: Towards A Global Agreement On National And Global Responsibilities For Health, Lawrence O. Gostin, Eric A. Friedman, Gorik Ooms, Thomas Gebauer, Narendra Gupta, Devi Sridhar, Wang Chenguang, John-Arne Røttingen, David Sanders

O'Neill Institute Papers

A coalition of civil society organizations and academics is initiating a Joint Action and Learning Initiative on National and Global Responsibilities for Health (JALI) to research key conceptual questions involving health rights and responsibilities, with the goal of securing a global health agreement andsupporting civil society and community mobilization around the human right to health. The social mobilization is critical to creating the political space that would make such an agreement possible and to ensuring its implementation.

This agreement, such as a Framework Convention on Global Health, would inform post-Millennium Development Goal global health commitments, be grounded in the right …

A Brave New Jungle: Factory Farming And Advocacy In The Twenty-First Century, James I. Pearce

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Protecting Women: Preserving Autonomy In The Commodification Of Motherhood, M. Elliott Neal

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Ifit's Reusable Why Not Reuse It? The Reuse Of Single Use Medical Devices, Brian Wilson

Dalhousie Law Journal

The reprocessing and subsequent reuse of medical devices labelled by the manufacturer as 'single-use only' is a cost cutting strategy employed by many healthcare centres. However, attempting to extend the life of a device labelled as 'single-use only' raises a number of unique concerns surrounding the issue of legal liability specifically who should bear responsibility if someone suffers harm as a result of a reprocessed single-use device. Following an overview of the current regulatory environment, the potential tortious liability attaching to those who may be implicated in the reprocessing chain is discussed. Specifically, this paper examines the duty and standard …

Population Health Through Inclusive Urban Planning: Healthier Communities And Sustainable Urban Development In Indian Cities, Shriya Malhotra

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.