Law Commons^™

Compensation Programs For Vaccine-Related Injury Abroad: A Comparative Analysis, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Adverse physical reactions to immunizations, ¹ although comparatively rare, raise fundamental questions about the relationship between the state and the individual. In the United States, responsibility for vaccine-related injuries has been judicially and administratively debated for nearly two decades, beginning with the seminal decision of Davis v. Wyeth Laboratories. The primary issue is whether a person who suffers an unpredictable adverse reaction to a vaccination is entitled to receive compensation for his or her injuries, and if so, whether compensation should be provided by the manufacturer of the vaccine as part of its responsibility for the effects of its products, …

Getting To Market: The Scientific And Legal Climate For Developing An Aids Vaccine, Wendy K. Mariner, Robert C. Gallo

Faculty Scholarship

Expectations of a vaccine to prevent acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are rising. Not only are the prospects for an effective immunogen improving, but immunization appears to hold the greatest promise for halting the spread of infection and disease.' Identification of the causal agent-the retrovirus called HTLV-III, LAV, or generically, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)-has provided the direction and limited the options for containing the disease.

Prevention is, of course, critical where the disease must be presumed to be fatal in all cases. Although there is no clear evidence that any single exposure to HIV will result in infection or disease, prudence …

Surrogate Parenthood, George J. Annas, John Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

Does a surrogate mother have the right to change her mind? Not according to the Baby M court, which enforced a $10,000 contract between Mary Beth Whitehead and William and Elizabeth Stern that it found was "in the best interests of the child." The decision is now on appeal before the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The case has produced sharply divided reaction-some denounce surrogate arrangements as Orwellian while others see them as a boon to childless couples.

George Annas, a professor of health law at Boston University's School of Public Health, would void these contracts on policy grounds. He believes …

Protecting The Liberty Of Pregnant Patients, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

We are seeing the beginning of an alliance between physicians and the state to force pregnant women to follow medical advice for the sake of their fetuses. No irreversible commitments to such an alliance have yet been made, but only a principled discussion of the issues is likely to prevent forced treatment from becoming standard medical practice.

In her futuristic novel The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood envisions a world in which physicians and the state combine to strip fertile women of all human rights. These women come to view themselves as "two-legged wombs, that's all; sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices." …

Trying To Live Forever, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Since the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, legal actions regarding the dying have become commonplace. Unfortunately, so has legal misinformation, misapplication, fantasy, and inhumanity. We seem to have frightfully underestimated the ability of lawyers to focus on trivia and self protection, and to ignore the basic human rights of dying persons. As the authors of the Hasting Center's Guidelines declare in the introduction:

Hospital legal counsel, lawyers serving other health care institutions, and legal advisors to individual health care professionals have a critical role to play in seeing that medicine is not driven by law, and health care professionals are …

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulation Of Radiation Hazards In The Workplace: Present Problems And New Approaches To Reproductive Health, Michael S. Baram, Neal Smith

Faculty Scholarship

On December 20, 1985, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposed revisions to its Standards for Protection Against Radiation [hereinafter Standards].¹ If adopted, the new Standards will provide additional protection for millions of workers and their unborn children. The effects of the Standards will extend, however, far beyond the health of those exposed to radiation. Specifically, the NRC's proposal may provide a new paradigm for regulating health hazards that have no safe threshold level of exposure. It will also focus debate on whether or not women should be precluded from working in fetotoxic environments