Law Commons^™

Colloquium - Gender, Law And Health Care: New Perspectives For Teaching And Scholarship: The Role Of Gender In Law And Health Care, Karen H. Rothenberg

Karen H. Rothenberg

No abstract provided.

Protecting Workers From Genetic Discrimination, Karen H. Rothenberg

Karen H. Rothenberg

No abstract provided.

The Potential For Discrimination In Health Insurance Based On Predictive Genetic Tests, Karen H. Rothenberg

Karen H. Rothenberg

No abstract provided.

Advances In Genetic Research And Technologies: Challenges For Public Policy, Karen H. Rothenberg

Karen H. Rothenberg

No abstract provided.

Risky Ventures: The Impact Of Irs Health Care Joint Venture Policy, Roger P. Meyers

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

IRS oversight of joint ventures between exempt and for-profit organizations has undergone substantial change over the past thirty years. This change has important consequences for the health care industry, where joint ventures have grown increasingly common. In the face of unclear guidance and aggressive enforcement of exemption-policing tools such as the private benefit doctrine and the control test, a hospital risks revocation of its tax-exempt status, or liability for unrelated business income tax, when it engages in a joint venture directly. It may be able to eliminate this risk by operating the same joint venture through a for-profit subsidiary; however, …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Fall 2009

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

In Search Of An Enforceabe Medical Malpractice Exculpatory Agreement: Introducing Confidential Contracts As A Solution To The Doctor-Patient Relationship Problem, Matthew J.B. Lawrence

Faculty Scholarly Works

Scholars have argued that the malpractice system would be better off if patients had the option of waiving the right to sue for malpractice in exchange for a lower fee. Some doctors have tried to follow this advice by having their patients sign medical malpractice exculpatory agreements, but courts usually have refused to enforce these agreements, invoking a void-for-public-policy rationale. This Note argues that a doctor could maximize the odds that a court would enforce her medical malpractice exculpatory agreement by somehow ensuring that she will never find out whether her patient decided to sign. A case study of the …

Eligibility For Organ Donation: A Medico-Legal Perspective On Defining And Determining Death, Jocelyn Downie, Matthew R. Kutcher, Chantelle Rajotte, Alison Shea

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Purpose: In the context of post-mortem organ donation, there is an obvious need for certainty regarding the legal definition and determination of death, as individuals must be legally pronounced dead before organs may be procured for donation. Surprisingly then, the legal situation in Canada with regard to the definition and determination of death is uncertain. The purpose of this review is to provide anesthesiologists and critical care specialists with a medico-legal perspective regarding the definition and determination of death (particularly as it relates to non-heart-beating donor protocols) and to contribute to ongoing improvement in policies, protocols, and practices in this …

Creating A Paternalistic Market For Legal Rules Affecting The Benefit Promise, Brendan S. Maher

Faculty Scholarship

Notwithstanding the fact that ERISA was enacted to protect employee benefits, courts have narrowly construed the relief available when benefits are denied, out of concern that a stronger remedy would be too costly for the system to bear. Judges, I argue, are ill-equipped to make this policy judgment. Instead, a regulated, subsidized, paternalistic market should be created to permit the benefit players themselves to choose and price the strength of the remedy they desire. This is a superior means to reach the right level of remedial strength for the most players. To protect against undesirably weak remedial options being selected, …

The Elderly And Health Care Rationing, George P. Smith Ii

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The allocation of health care resources involves a societal determination of what resources should be devoted to a particular program. The allocation process is typically performed on a ―macro‖ level, with allocation decisions often affecting only statistical lives. In contrast to the identifiable lives often affected by health care rationing, statistical lives affected by allocation decisions are much more readily sacrificed. A common means of deciding health care allocation is through political processes. Government decisions pertaining to health care spending and regulation typically involve allocation determinations. For example, the Medicare and Medicaid programs allocate resources for numerous purposes. Hospitals, …

Universal Health Care, American Pragmatism, And The Ethics Of Health Policy: Questioning Political Efficacy, Daniel S. Goldberg

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “This article will explore the conceptual implications of applying ethical critique and analysis to health policy. This is not to imply any reductionist conception of health policy in which ethics is absent. As Deborah Stone and John W. Kingdon both note, policy is fraught with ethical implications, and value prioritization is a sine qua non for health policy. Nevertheless, I wish to suggest that there are some conceptually significant distinctions in thinking of the ethics of health policy as opposed to thinking separately about ethics and about health policy. Moreover, these distinctions themselves are of value, both in thinking …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Spring 2009

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

When Patients Say No (To Save Money): An Essay On The Tectonics Of Health Law., Mark A. Hall, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

The ultimate aim of health care public policy is good care at good prices. Managed care stalled at achieving this goal by trying to influence providers, so health policy has turned to the only market-based option left: treating patients like consumers. Health insurance and tax policy are now pressuring patients to spend their own money when they select health plans, providers, and treatments. Expecting patients to choose what they need at the price they want, consumerists believe that market competition will constrain costs while optimizing quality. This classic form of consumerism is today's watchword. This Article evaluates this ideal type …

The Life Science Lawyer, Erin Albert

Butler University Books

Health care and life sciences are increasingly complex. There are many global players in life sciences and healthcare-patients, governments, hospitals, managed care companies, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies and pharmacies are only a few. With this increasing complexity comes a higher demand for hybrid professionals who can translate both the science as well as the legal issues surrounding this complicated environment. In the US, there are thousands of life science lawyers--people who have both a scientific/healthcare background and also who have gone on to law school (or in one case, vice versa). This book explores the following through interviews: …

Review Of Reforming Medicare: Options, Tradeoffs, And Opportunities, Jill R. Horwitz

Reviews

Medicare needs fixing. The program has its strengths; it is popular among beneficiaries, has very low administrative costs (maybe too low), and, since its inception, has greatly reduced financial risk exposure among beneficiaries. Nevertheless, it is unaffordable and inefficient. Jeanne Lambrew and Henry Aaron take up both of these challenges for Medicare reform in great detail in Reforming Medicare.

Finding A Cure: The Case For Regulation And Oversight Of Electronic Health Record Systems, Sharona Hoffman, Andy Podgurski

Faculty Publications

In the foreseeable future, it is likely that the familiar, paper-based patient medical files will become a thing of the past. On April 26, 24, President George W. Bush announced a plan to ensure that all Americans' health records are computerized within ten years and to establish a National Health Information Network. Many advocates are enthusiastically promoting the adoption of health information technology (HIT) and electronic health record (HER) systems as a means to improve U.S. health care.

HER systems often not only serve as record-keeping systems, but also have multiple capabilities, including drug ordering, decision support, alerts concerning patient …

Giving In To Baby Markets: Regulation Without Prohibition, Sonia M. Suter

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The commodification of reproductive material evokes different responses. Some argue that the sale of reproductive material should be prohibited. Others argue in favor of unfettered baby markets on principle or to achieve broad-scale access to reproductive technologies. In this Article, the author responds to the emergence of baby markets with great skepticism, but reluctant acceptance. Drawing on a relational conception of autonomy and self-definition, she argues that commodification of reproductive material is intrinsically harmful. Moreover, such commodification poses a number of consequential harms. Nevertheless, in spite of these concerns, the author "gives in" to baby markets, which is to say …

Pursuing The Perfect Mother: Why America's Criminalization Of Maternal Substance Abuse Is Not The Answer- A Compartive Legal Analysis, Linda C. Fentiman

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

In this Article the author will examine not only the substantive legal differences between the United States, Canada, and France, but will also explore how these legal rules fit within a broader social, political, and religious setting. This Article will pursue four lines of inquiry. First, it will briefly chronicle the history of criminal prosecution of pregnant women in America and show how these prosecutions have become markedly more aggressive over the last twenty years. Second, it will situate these prosecutions in the full context of American law and culture, demonstrating how the fetus has received increasing legal recognition in …

The Ethical Foundations Of Consumer-Driven Health Care, Marshall B. Kapp

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

The Emergence Of Mandatory Wellness Programs In The United States: Welcoming, Or Worrisome?, Daniel Charles Rubenstein

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Working Sick: Lessons Of Chronic Illness For Health Care Reform, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

Although chronic illness is generally associated with the elderly or disabled, chronic conditions are widespread among working-age adults and pose significant challenges for employer-based health care plans. Indeed, a recent study found that the number of working-age adults with a major chronic condition has grown by 25 percent over the past 10 years, to a total of nearly 58 million in 2006. Chronic illness imposes significant costs on workers, employers, and the overall economy. This population accounts for three-quarters of all personal medical spending in the United States, and a Milken Institute study recently estimated that lost workdays and lower …

The Patient Life: Can Consumers Direct Health Care?, Carl E. Schneider, Mark A. Hall

Articles

The ultimate aim of health care policy is good care at good prices. Managed care failed to achieve this goal through influencing providers, so health policy has turned to the only market-based option left: treating patients like consumers. Health insurance and tax policy now pressure patients to spend their own money when they select health plans, providers, and treatments. Expecting patients to choose what they need at the price they want, consumerists believe that market competition will constrain costs while optimizing quality. This classic form of consumerism is today's health policy watchword. This article evaluates consumerism and the regulatory mechanism …

In Search Of An Enforceable Medical Malpractice Exculpatory Agreement: Introducing Confidential Contracts As A Solution To The Doctor-Patient Relationship Problem, Matthew Lawrence

Matthew B. Lawrence