Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Ethics Education In Medical Schools: Problems, Practices, And Possibilities, Jacob H. Rooksby

Law Faculty Publications

A third-year student at an urban teaching hospital is on her pediatrics rotation. One morning she finds that a new patient has been admitted, a seventeen-year old boy who has been transferred from a private hospital in the countryside. The receiving physicians have been alerted that the boy injured himself in a fall, causing potential bleeding to internal organs. The boy, however, does not profess to be in any pain. When his abdomen and other areas are palpated, he gives a forced laugh and says that it tickles. ...

The Whole Is Not Always Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts: A Call For Stricter Regulation Of Post-Mortem Human Tissue, Megan A. Scanlon

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This paper examines the current law and urges the greater regulation of the post-mortem human tissue industry. Part II illustrates the many post-mortem uses of the human body. Part III describes several post-mortem misuses and abuses of donor cadavers, organs and tissue resulting from a gap in current regulation. Part IV lays out the entities involved in the oversight of the tissue banking industry and explains the current state of regulation, including pending legislation and its potential effectiveness in addressing past shortcomings. Part V examines why the current and pending legislation does not adequately address the industry problems and urges …

Health Care Law, Michael C. Guanzon

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Just What The Doctor Ordered: Is It Time For Your Bank To Start Offering A Health Savings Account (Hsa)? Here's What You Need To Know About This New Product, Rachel Juhas Suddarth

Law Faculty Publications

In recent years. The ever-increasing cost of health insurance has left many consumers and employers desperate for lower-cost coverage options. As a result, employers are moving away from expensive defined-benefit plans to alternatives that offer higher deductibles in exchange for a reduction in premium costs. The health savings account (HSA) grew out of this quest for choice. The HSA was designed as a tax-efficient way for consumers with high-deductible plans to pay for health costs accrued before the insurance kicked in. These high-deductible plans are touted as being more affordable for both employers and consumers as well as for having …

E-Prescribing In A Changing Legal Environment, Jeff Todd

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Perhaps nothing permeates modern American society as much as prescription drugs. Evidence of this exists not just in television and magazine ads extolling the promises of Viagra and Nexium, but also in a few statistics. First, forty-six percent of Americans use at least one prescription drug daily. Further, in 2001, 3.1 billion prescriptions were issued in the United States at a cost of $132 billion. That amount is projected to increase to $414 billion by 2014.3 Such numbers explain the intensity of the recent political and legal debates surrounding prescription drugs, such as the importation of American pharmaceuticals from Canada …

The Modern Age Of Informed Consent, Barbara L. Atwell

University of Richmond Law Review

This essay explores the informed consent ramifications of the confluence of these two phenomena: developments in medical technology and emerging adulthood. In particular, it explores consent to medical treatments by emerging adults that are both elective and irreversible. In such cases, policy considerations dictate that additional safeguards be implemented to ensure that the consent given is truly informed. Part II of this essay provides an overview of the informed consent doctrine and outlines a variety of advancements in elective medical technology. Part III explores the concept of emerging adulthood. Part IV suggests that when emerging adults seek medical treatments that …

Health Courts: Panacea Or Palliative?, Carl W. Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Building Healthy Cities: Legal Frameworks And Considerations, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

This chapter will explore the range of laws and government policies that have shaped the physical structure of U.S. cities and thereby impacted the health of those cities' residents. This analysis will highlight the many, apparently "private" decisions that have been impacted by government policies. Though some of the laws, policies, prohibitions, and incentives have been formulated explicitly to take into account health considerations, others have unintended effects - both good and bad - on the health of urban populations.

A Legal Framework For Preventing Cardiovascular Diseases, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

Cardiovascular diseases are major contributors to death, disability, disparities, and reduced quality of life in the United States. Successful prevention and control of these diseases requires a comprehensive approach applied across multiple public health settings and in all life stages. Individual lifestyle and behavior change, as well as the broader social, environmental, and policy changes that enable healthy lifestyles, are necessary. Legal strategies can be powerful tools in this endeavor. This review presents seven such strategies applicable at the federal, state, and local levels that can be employed by healthcare providers, public health practitioners, legislators, and other policymakers. They include …

Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discoverability Of Healthcare Provider Policies And Incident Reports, Michael L. Goodman, Kathleen M. Mccauley, Suzanne S. Duvall

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sell V. United States: Involuntary Administration Of Antipsychotic Medication To Criminal Defendants, Brandy M. Rapp

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Frameworks For Chronic Disease Prevention, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

Law is a tool that can be used to shape both private and government conduct so as to impact public health. There are at least seven different techniques of legal intervention, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. These techniques are: direct regulation through command and coercion; economic incentives to encourage private parties to behave in a particular way; indirect regulation through private enforcement such as tort law; altering the informational environment; directly providing services or infrastructure to the public; government acting as a "model citizen" with respect to its employees and facilities; and, inducing other levels of government to …

Learning From The Mistakes Of The Past: Disclosure Of Financial Conflicts Of Interest And Genetic Research, Christopher Jackson

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

“Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body . . . .” From Benjamin Cardozo’s early expression of the principle of patient autonomy emerged the doctrine of informed consent, defined by both contract and fiduciary laws and elaborated upon by courts, state and federal legislatures, and professional associations. Later, as the world sought to reassemble itself following the horrors of World War II, the promulgation of the Nuremberg Code established an international standard for the treatment of human research subjects. The experiences of the Nazi atrocities, …

Smart Growth For Community Development, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

The built environment has a profound effect on public health. For instance, community transportation policy influences pollution levels, which in turn contribute to levels of illness and death. The panelists for this session elaborate on this concept with perspectives drawn from varied experiences.

Health Care Law, Kathleen M. Mccauley

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Drug Regulations And The Constitution After Western States, Margaret Gilhooley

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Trajectory Of "Normal" After 9/11: Trauma, Recovery And Post-Traumatic Societal Adaptation, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

I shall evaluate some of the wide-ranging psychological effects of 9/11 to further flesh out the concept that 9/11 is a "national trauma," in pursuit of a more sophisticated understanding intended to supplant the traditional concept of "trauma" so often associated with events of this caliber. Before 9/11, most people thought posttraumatic stress was something Vietnam veterans (or perhaps rape victims) suffered. As I describe in Part I, this is squarely at odds with recent research that shows such trauma is common. I will discuss current literature reflecting on post-traumatic stress and the associated disorder (post-traumatic stress disorder, or "PTSD"), …

Public Health And The Built Environment: Historical, Empirical, And Theoretical Foundations For An Expanded Role, Wendy Collins Perdue, Lawrence O. Gostin, Lesley A. Stone

Law Faculty Publications

In 2000, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health issued a report that explored some of the ways in which "sprawl" impacts public health. The report has generated great interest, and state health officials are beginning to discuss the relationship between land use and public health. The CDC report has also produced a backlash. For example, the Southern California Building Industry Association labeled the report "a ludicrous sham" and argued that the CDC should stick to "fighting physical diseases, not defending political ones."

In this environment, it is understandable if the CDC looks to such …

The Built Environment And Its Relationship To The Public's Health: The Legal Framework, Wendy Collins Perdue

Law Faculty Publications

Public health advocates can help shape the design of cities and suburbs in ways that improve public health, but to do so effectively they need to understand the legal framework. This article re- views the connection between public health and the built environment and then describes the legal pathways for improving the design of our built environment.

Health Care Law, Peter M. Mellette, Emily W. G. Towey, J. Vaden Hunt

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Will A Lawsuit A Day Keep The Cyberdocs Away? Modern Theories Of Medical Malpractice As Applied To Cybermedicine, Ruth Ellen Smalley

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Rivaled only by lawyers, those who earn their livelihood by practicing medicine are viewed by many as America's Public Enemy No. 1. This perception is due to the rising cost of medicine, the over-scheduling of patients, and the poor bedside manner that many people associate with a trip to the doctor's office. However, the advent of the Internet and its proliferation into schools, offices, and homes has placed medical opinions only a mouse click away. Websites, such as cyberdocs.com, allow patients to type in a description of their ailments and receive diagnoses and treatment advice from an on-line medical professional …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Health Law, Jonathan M. Joseph, Adam R. Easterday

University of Richmond Law Review

During the past year, the Commonwealth of Virginia has experienced numerous developments in health law on all three major legal fronts-legislative, judicial, and administrative law. These developments have covered a range of health law topics, including everything from revisions to the public certificate of need process for health care facilities and the regulation of body-piercing of minors on the legislative front, to key decisions regarding the scope of the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act and the Health Care Decisions Act on the judicial front, to action on the regulatory front regarding independent external appeals ofhealth plan denials and hospice …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Note, Space-Age Medicine, Stone-Age Government: How Medicare Reimbursement Of Telemedicine Services Is Depriving The Elderly Of Quality Medical Treatment, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga

Law Faculty Publications

We have the technology. What is needed is government financial commitment, so argues Kristen Jakobsen in the following discussion of "telemedicine." The term refers to the delivery of health care services by means of modern telecommunications technology. According to Ms. Jakobsen, the telephone, the fax machine, the Internet, and interactive audio-visual transmissions hold the key to making medical care more accessible and less expensive. Potential beneficiaries include vast populations of elderly in rural areas, who tend to be remote from upscale health care facilities and in need of the wherewithal to reach them. Standing in the way, in Ms. Jakobsen's …

The Duty To Treat Asymptomatic Hiv-Positive Patients Or Face Disability Discrimination Under Abbott V. Bragdon: The Scylla And Charybdis Facing Today's Dental And Health Care Providers, Lisa Taylor Hudson

University of Richmond Law Review

Imagine yourself in the following scenario. You are an experienced dentist with a small private practice, and you routinely accept new patients and referrals. One of your long-time patients is scheduled for a routine tooth cleaning and dental examination. You make every effort to keep updated documentation on your patients, and in that pursuit, you request that the. patient complete a basic written health questionnaire. In the section relating to medications and relevant medical history, the patient reveals that she is taking medications for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ("AIDS"),' and that she has tested positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus ("HIV-positive").

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ethical Justifications For Voluntary Active Euthanasia, Bernadette Spina

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

The topic of euthanasia gives rise to a host of ethical questions including those regarding the quality of life, beneficence, and the responsibilities of physicians toward their patients. While there are many kinds of cases in which euthanasia may be considered, such as those involving severely handicapped newborns and patients with debilitating but not fatal conditions, this paper focuses on the situation of late-state terminally ill patients who are suffering and want active euthanasia as an option for ending their pain. This paper explains why, under such circumstances, voluntary active euthanasia may be ethically justified. Active and passive euthanasia are …

Mandatory Hiv Testing Of Accused Rapists: Whose Rights Are We Protecting? An Ethical And Legal Analysis, Melissa S. Iotti

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

At times, the law appears confusing and unfair. Criminal defendants receive the strictest of all standards of review: "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." But why are the accused afforded greater constitutional protections than the victim? One reason may be found by examining the intent of the authors of the United States Constitution. Our founding fathers wanted Americans to escape the kind of persecution suffered under English rule. From its inception, the Constitution and the laws that followed were based on public policy and ethics. This legal precedence is used to interpret new laws. However, because of precedence, laws often do …

When Species Collide: An Analysis Of The Use Of Anencephalic Infants And Non-Human Animals As Organ Donors, Mary Ann Palese Chandler

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article examines the organ transplant problem with a focus on these two potential sources. Part II exposes the problem which, simply stated, is that a serious shortage of transplantable organs makes identification of new sources of donor organs a necessity. Part III deals with the anencephalic infant as a source of organs. It discusses the nature of this fatal birth defect, the manner in which these infants have been dealt with in the past, and how they are treated today. The article goes on to discuss why these infants may be a valuable potential source of organs for pediatric …