Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Lindsey V. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department: Cipollone Revisited, Billboards, State Law Tort Damages Actions, Federal Preemption And The Federal Cigarette Labeling And Advertising Act, Harold C. Reeder

Seattle University Law Review

The Article evaluates Lindsey and other recent cases dealing with local regulations restricting tobacco advertising; it also examines their respective preemption analyses, suggesting that the use of the FCLAA's preemption provision against such regulations is unwarranted. The article argues that in Lindsey, the Ninth Circuit misconstrued the Supreme Court's discussion of the preemptive scope of the FCLAA by failing to read it in the proper contex and that the FCLAA's preemption provision was not intended to prevent the particular types of regulations involved in Lindsey and these other cases. It argues that the preemption provision was only meant to …

Employers Beware: The Ninth Circuit's Rejection Of The "Direct Threat To Self" Disability Discrimination Defense In Echazabal V. Chevron, Sheehan Sullivan

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will address whether the Ninth Circuit should have upheld the "direct threat to self" defense in Echazabal v. Chevron. First, the Note will introduce the "direct threat to self" debate in the context of the ADA's language, the EEOC-outlined regulatory provisions, and the case law surrounding the direct threat question. Specifically, the Note will address (1) the relationship between the ADA and the EEOC, (2) the compatiblity of the ADA with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and (3) the case law applying the EEOC regulations, the ADA provisions, and the Rehabilitation Act provisions. Next, the Note will …

The Merger Between Public Health And Health Law – The Us Situation, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Law is an essential tool for protecting the public’s health. It is often the law that turns public health science into public health action. Sanitation, clean air and water, universal vaccination, injury prevention, tobacco control, drug policy, and a vast array of other interventions are achieved through a complex web of local, provincial and national statutes, regulations and judicial cases. The Institute of Medicine in the United States defines public health as “what we, as a society, do collectively to ensure the conditions in which people can be healthy.” And society acts collectively most often through law.

Thus, the merging …

The Limits Of State Laws To Protect Genetic Information, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Al Gore characterized the DNA code as a secret code like that of the Nazis. In his words, “with the completion of the Human Genome, we are on the verge of cracking another enemy's secret code. When we intercept and decipher the coded messages that cancer sends from cell to cell, we will turn the tide, and win the war against cancer.” Gore was expanding the metaphor of the war on cancer, and commandeering the DNA code in the service of that metaphor. At about the same time, then president Bill Clinton called the DNA …

“Partial-Birth Abortion” And The Supreme Court, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Aortion has long been, and remains, the most politicized medical procedure in the United States. It has been the subject of more state and federal legislation than all other medical procedures combined. The U.S. Supreme Court, which almost never hears cases about medical procedures, has regularly heard cases over the past 25 years concerning the constitutionality of various state laws designed to limit abortion. Thus, it was only a matter of time before the Court would hear a case on the constitutionality of laws restricting so-called partial-birth abortion. When the Court heard a challenge to Nebraska's law, statutes relating to …

Health Care, Technology And Federalism, Kevin Outterson

Faculty Scholarship

The regulation of health care has traditionally been the province of the states, most often grounded in the police power. In Colonial times, this division of responsibility was a rational response to the technological level of the eighteenth century, although even in the youth of the Republic some health and safety regulation required national and international action. With the growth of distancecompression technology, the increase in mobility of goods and services, and a significant federal financial role in health care, the grip of the police power on the regulation of health care has been weakened. Discussion of the police power …

Genetic Testing For Susceptability To Disease From Exposure To Toxic Chemicals: Implications For Public And Worker Health Policies, Michael S. Baram

Faculty Scholarship

The Environmental Genome Program intends to identify "susceptibility genes" that would indicate if a person is more vulnerable to cancer or other disease as a result of exposure to certain chemicals in the workplace, the environment, foods, or other products. Research findings and the capability to test persons for such genes are likely to impugn and challenge health policies and regulatory programs that do not take genetic susceptibility into account when conferring health benefits and restricting chemical exposures. This article focuses on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and discusses four options available to this agency for protecting genetically …