Law Commons^™

Personal Data And Vaccination Hesitancy: Covid-19’S Lessons For Public Health Federalism, Charles D. Curran

Catholic University Law Review

During the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the federal government adopted a more centralized approach to the collection of public health data. Although the states previously had controlled the storage of vaccination information, the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed plan required the reporting of recipients’ personal information on the grounds that it was needed to monitor the safety of novel vaccines and ensure correct administration of their multi-dose regimens.

Over the course of the pandemic response, this more centralized federal approach to data collection added a new dimension to pre-existing vaccination hesitancy. Requirements that recipients furnish individual information deterred vaccination among undocumented …

Blue Water Navy Veterans And The Agent Orange Rulings: A Lifeboat For The Veterans; A Storm Warning For The Vba, Jennifer Howley

Catholic University Law Review

Agent Orange was a herbicidal chemical used by the U.S. military for tactical use during the Vietnam War. Although initially told by the government not to worry about exposure to the chemical, veterans, their wives, and their offspring began having severe health and reproductive issues. In the early 1990’s, Congress passed the Agent Orange Act and the government directed the Institute of Medicine to report on the health effects of Agent Orange. Through this approach, Vietnam Veterans could claim benefits for illnesses listed in connection with Agent Orange. But only some Vietnam Veterans.

Initially, only veterans who served on-shore or …

The President’S Remedy–What The Hydroxychloroquine Story Teaches Us About The Need To Limit Off-Lable Prescribing Powers, Jennifer Bard

Catholic University Law Review

When the history of the first year of the United States Government’s response to the COVID-19 virus is written, there is likely to be mention of the still unexplained vehemence with which then president Donald J. Trump made use of his access to social media to promote seldom used anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, for both the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 despite the active growing opposition of most of the world’s scientists, including his own government scientists. While the use of drugs developed and approved by the FDA for different purposes to combat new diseases, off-label prescribing, is legal in the …

Religious Freedom Vs. Compelled Vaccination: A Case-Study Of The 2018-2019 Measles Pandemic Or The Law As A Public Health Response, Barbara Pfeffer Billauer Esq.

Catholic University Law Review

Following the recent decision in Roman Catholic Diocese v. Cuomo,^[1] clear guidance regarding the state’s powers to act during a pandemic is wanting. I look here to the 2018–2019 global measles epidemic, with a focus on the New York and Israeli experiences, for that guidance. Measles rates increased dramatically during the 2018–2019 season, both in the United States and globally. This phenomenon reflects a general decline in worldwide vaccination and an increase in vaccine resistance stoked by anti-vax groups. In the United States, the epidemic targeted ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, as it did in Israel. This Article evaluates the …

Meaning, Biology And Identity: The Rights Of Children, Anika Smith

Catholic University Law Review

Sperm and egg donation in the United States is only loosely regulated, and the current regime privileges the anonymity of the adult donor over the child’s right to identity. The majority of people conceived through anonymous donation do not support the practice but find their rights abrogated by contracts made by their intentional and biological parents. Donor reliance on the anonymity guaranteed by those contracts is shifting as at-home genetic testing limits their expectation of privacy, with more biological ties being discovered by children conceived through gamete donation. This Comment explores the child’s right to identity in family law cases, …

It Is A Mindboggling Dilemma: To Play Or Not To Play Youth Sports Due To Concussion Risks?, Dr. Tracey B. Carter

Catholic University Law Review

Concussions and their long term effects resulting from football collisions have recently entered the forefront of social debate. Movies like Concussion as well as high-profile lawsuits due to post-concussion health effects have casted a spotlight on brain injuries at the collegiate and professional level. However, this debate has equal application in youth sports—recent studies show that sports-related concussions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels are equally concerning.

Youth sports are safer when fewer athletes suffer from sports-related concussions. But litigation is not the best avenue to make youth sports safer. Youth sports can be improved by: 1) primary …

A-R-C-G- Is Not The Solution For Domestic Violence Victims, Lizbeth Chow

Catholic University Law Review

For over fifteen years, U.S. immigration authorities and courts have grappled with the idea of domestic violence as a basis for asylum. But in 2014, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a decision indicating that victims of domestic violence may qualify for asylum. This Comment assesses the BIA’s decision and concludes that it is ultimately ineffective. This Comment further suggests that the only practical solution is for Congress to intervene. This Comment first provides a brief historical overview of asylum law to help elucidate the purpose of asylum law. It also provides an in-depth review of the elements needed …

Tears In Heaven: Religiously And Culturally Sensitive Laws For Preventing The Next Pandemic, Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod, Aileen Maria Marty, Elena Maria Marty-Nelson

Catholic University Law Review

This Article argues that laws created to curtail the spread of deadly contagious diseases need to be drafted and implemented in ways that maximize acceptance of an affected communities’ cultural and religious beliefs. When laws are put in place that are inconsistent with community mores, the overall goal of stopping an epidemic is threatened. Communities often distrust government and other relief organizations who mandate rules and regulations that impinge their religious and cultural beliefs; thus, these regulations geared at helping communities can paradoxically undermine the goal of preventing the spread of infectious disease.

This Article focuses on the need for …

Fulfilling The Promise Of Roe: A Pathway For Meaningful Pre-Abortion Consultation, Thomas J. Molony

Catholic University Law Review

In Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down regulations that it believed would inhibit a woman’s ability to receive meaningful personal consultation and support before choosing to have an abortion. The Court thus echoed what it had emphasized in Roe v. Wade more than 40 years earlier—that an abortion decision would follow an extensive discussion between a woman and her physician. An ob/gyn who provides a woman with regular care likely is best equipped to offer this type of consultation, but most ob/gyns do not perform abortions, and there is evidence that physicians who perform …

Litigating Medical Device Premarket Classification Decisions For Small Businesses: Have The Courts Given The Fda Too Much Deference? The Case For Taking The Focus Off Of Efficacy, Stephanie P. Fekete

Catholic University Law Review

The manufacturing of innovative medical devices is important for the continued success and growth of the U.S. health care system and economy. The medical device industry is almost exclusively comprised of small businesses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the medical device industry and employs a rigorous approval process to determine when products may enter the market. While the FDA’s goal is to authorize the sale of innovative devices that are safe for patient use, device manufacturers argue that the process to obtain FDA approval is unnecessarily expensive, burdensome, and has systemic problems. As a result of the …

The Affordable Care Act Is Not Tort Reform, Andrew F. Popper

Catholic University Law Review

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Prior to the enactment of the PPACA, Congress held several hearings focused on subrogation and relaxation of collateral source restrictions as well as caps on damages in an effort to promote tort reform. While the ACA included provisions on medical liability reform, the suggested tort reform was thwarted, and the ACA had no actual legal effect on limiting medical malpractice liability. This article argues that the reality is that the PPACA has done nothing to change the admissibility of collateral sources nor has it enhanced …

The Minty Taste Of Death: State And Local Options To Regulate Menthol In Tobacco Products, Michael Freiberg

Catholic University Law Review

Explaining why the additive menthol in tobacco products creates major public health risks, this article advocates for restricting the addition of menthol in cigarettes as a way to reduce smoking-related disease and death. Author Michael Freiberg describes how the decision to regulate menthol in tobacco products, on a federal level, was historically delegated by Congress to the discretion of the U.S. FDA, outlines the U.S. FDA’s subsequent failure to regulate menthol, and surveys state and local government efforts to regulate menthol in response to the FDA’s inaction. The article proposes additional actions that these state and local governments could take …

Classifying Obesity As A Disability Under The Americans With Disabilities Act: How Seff V. Broward County Is Incongruent With Recent Ada Litigation, Maura Flaherty Mccoy

Catholic University Law Review

This Note discusses how employer wellness programs are potential breeding grounds for Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination claims in light of recent ADA cases relating to obesity and how courts’ treatment of the safe harbor provision of the ADA is incongruent with the broadening of ADA claims. It looks at the provisions of the ADA and how courts have traditionally defined “disability” in obesity cases, describes the ADA safe harbor provision, and discusses the advent of corporate wellness programs. This Note then analyzes Seff v. Broward County, the most notable wellness program case to-date, and how the court’s decision …

Breastfeeding And A New Type Of Employment Law, Marcy Karin, Robin Runge

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sacrificial Lambs: Compensating First Subscribers To Fda-Approved Medications For Postmarketing Injuries Resulting From Unlabeled Adverse Events, Rodney K. Miller

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Trademark Protection And Global Public Health: A Just-Compensation Regime For Expropriations And Regulatory Takings, Sam Foster Halabi

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Good Intentions, Bad Consequences: How Congress’S Efforts To Eradicate Hiv/Aids Stifle The Speech Of Humanitarian Organizations, Garima Malhotra

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.