Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Promised Reforms Fall Short Of The Mark, Colleen Miller

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Did the General Assembly pass sweeping mental health law reforms? Do the new laws make it easier to hospitalize individuals against their will, and if so, is that a desirable end? While new legislation rewords our civil commitment statute, do the new words really improve Virginia's mental health care system? In all likelihood, the most significant effect of the new legislation will be making our mental health laws more vulnerable to constitutional challenge, while simultaneously making it more difficult for Virginians to get necessary mental health treatment voluntarily.

Secondhand Smoke Deserves First-Rate Attention, Rickie Fulcher

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Most people probably do not know that as many as 65,000 nonsmokers die from secondhand smoke exposure each year. In fact, secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. During the 2008 session of the Virginia General Assembly, state legislators commendably introduced twelve smoke-free bills -the most in the legislature's history. While many of these efforts to protect the public health succeeded in the Senate, a House of Delegates subcommittee declined to hear many of the bills, effectively removing them from further consideration. Clearly, Virginia has a long way to go, but support for …

Charting A New Course: Practical Considerations For Implementing An Electronic Health Records System, Roy H. Wyman, Amanda L. Kutz

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

What is true for many aspects of life is also true for HIT-timing is everything. When a practice is ready to move forward with an EHR system, the potential benefits are numerous, from capturing potential clinical and billing mistakes to lessening the need for additional personnel and the prompt sharing of information with other providers. Attempting to install an EHR system before a practice, or any provider, is ready, however, can lead to disaster, as was discovered at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center when it was forced to shelve its three-month-old, thirtyfour million dollar computer system. This Article explores the legal issues …

Disability, Equipment Barriers And Women’S Health: Using The Ada To Provide Meaningful Access, Elizabeth Pendo

Articles

It is well-known that people with disabilities face multiple barriers to adequate health care, including lower average incomes, disproportionate poverty, and issues with insurance coverage. This article focuses on a more fundamental barrier-one that has not been discussed in the legal literature-inaccessible medical equipment and its effect on the delivery of women's health care to millions of women with disabilities .

National And Global Health Law: A Scholarly Examination Of The Most Pressing Health Hazards, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The health of individuals, families, and communities has deep, intuitive meaning. So much of what we aspire to be as individuals or as members of society relies on health. Our shared intuitions about the value of health manifest themselves in public and political concerns. The media widely reports threats to the public's health, such as a traveler with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, E-coli from contaminated spinach, miners' deaths, unsafe children's toys, and dangerous pharmaceuticals. Election years predictably spur new, or refashioned, proposals for health care reform. And there remain enduring, intractable health hazards, such as tobacco, obesity, motor vehicle crashes, and …

(Debate) Medicare: Did The Devil Make Us Do It?, D. A. Hyman, Jill R. Horwitz

Articles

In this lively and creative debate, Professors David Hyman and Jill Horwitz argue about the virtues and vices of the federal Medicare program. As some predict a bleak future for the American’s government’s ability (or inability) to continue paying for Medicare as the population ages, this debate shows that there is genuine disagreement about the severity of the problem. In his Opening Statement, Professor Hyman offers a satirical letter to the Devil from one of his demonic servants, describes the Medicare program through the lens of the seven deadly sins. Arguing that Medicare’s faults are represented in each sin, the …

Assessing Laws And Legal Authorities For Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness, David Fidler, Brian Kamoie, Robert M. Pestronk, Peter Baldridge, Leah Devlin, George A. Mensah, Michael Doney

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The All-Woman Texas Supreme Court: The History Behind A Brief Moment On The Bench., Alice G. Mcafee

St. Mary's Law Journal

On the surface, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the case of Johnson v. Darr, and, in fact it was not the merits of the case that made the headlines. It was the makeup of the tribunal. Long before women in Texas were even granted the right to serve on juries and before any woman ever served as a judge on any of the lower Texas courts, the judges appointed to hear the case of Johnson v. Darr were all women. This was the first time a woman was appointed in any capacity to serve on the Texas judiciary and …

The Castle Doctrine: An Expanding Right To Stand Your Ground Comment., Denise M. Drake

St. Mary's Law Journal

Recently, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 378 effectively terminating a person’s “duty to retreat” when confronted with a criminal attack of either great bodily injury or death. Complicated issues of innocence and guilt arise when one employs deadly force as a means of self-defense. Furthermore, tragic mistakes occur when people preemptively resort to deadly force before the realization of such a threat. Societal questions still exist concerning the possibility that self-defense will turn into self-justice. Critics argue the law encourages a vigilante society, substituting law enforcement help with self-justice. Conversely, supporters believe the bill serves as a deterrent from …

Fulfilling Your Professional Responsibilities: Representing A Deaf Client In Texas Recent Development., Matthew S. Compton

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Principal Investigator Views Of The Irb System, Simon N. Whitney, Kirsten Alcser, Carl E. Schneider, Laurence B. Mccullough, Amy L. Mcguire, Robert J. Volk

Articles

We undertook a qualitative e-mail survey of federally-funded principal investigators of their views of the US human subjects protection system, intended to identify the range of investigator attitudes. This was an exploratory study with a 14% response rate. Twenty-eight principal investigators responded; their comments were analyzed to show underlying themes, which are here presented along with supporting quotations. There was consensus that it is important to protect human subjects from research abuse, but disagreement over how well the IRB system is functioning. Some researchers felt that the system is effective and serves its purpose well. Of those who support the …

Integrating Accommodation, Elizabeth F. Emens

Faculty Scholarship

Courts and agencies interpreting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) generally assume that workplace accommodations benefit individual employees with disabilities and impose costs on employers and, at times, coworkers. This belief reflects a failure to recognize a key feature of ADA accommodations: their benefits to third parties. Numerous accommodations – from ramps to ergonomic furniture to telecommuting initiatives – can create benefits for coworkers, both disabled and nondisabled, as well as for the growing group of employees with impairments that are not limiting enough to constitute disabilities under the ADA. Much attention has been paid to how the integration of …

The Regulation Of Ddt: A Choice Between Evils, Ashley K. Martin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

DDT has the potential for great benefit and great harm. It is currently the most efficient method for controlling malaria, particularly for those countries the disease affects most. However, it also causes global pollution and damages the health of humans and wildlife. These characteristics of DDT make regulating DDT difficult because they create a need for the continued use of DDT to prevent the debilitating effects of malaria, but also a need to ban the use of DDT in order to prevent its negative environmental and health effects. These conflicting needs correlate to diverging interests of developing and developed countries. …

Immunizing Against Addiction: The Argument For Incorporating Emerging Anti-Addiction Vaccines Into Existing Compulsory Immunization Statutes, Alexis Osburn

Cleveland State Law Review

This paper discusses the legal ramifications of incorporating anti-addiction vaccines into a state's existing compulsory immunization scheme. Part II explains the neurobiological and physiological factors that make addiction a medical disease and discusses the mental and physical damage caused by illicit drug use. It also introduces the reader to anti-addiction research and explains how anti-addiction vaccines work. Part III provides the reader with a brief history of state-mandated vaccination requirements, including a discussion of the leading cases that govern compulsory vaccination requirements. Part IV advocates for the amendment of state-mandated immunization statutes to include anti-addiction vaccines. It analyzes two tests …

Violence, Fear, And Jason's Law: The Needless Expansion Of Social Control Over The Non-Dangerous Mentally Ill In Ohio, Jessica L. Mackeigan

Cleveland State Law Review

Ohio House Bill 299, known as Jason's Law in memory of Officer Jason West, proposes involuntary outpatient care for treatment resistant mentally ill individuals. Jason's Law should not be enacted as written because it will compel respondents to adhere to outpatient treatment based upon predictions of future danger to self or others rather than findings of imminent danger or incompetence, it will remove treatment flexibility currently guaranteed by Ohio law by extending the duration of treatment and limiting a treatment provider's discretion, it will compel the use of unproven medication over the objections of a presumably competent individual without requiring …

Expedited Partner Therapies For Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Legal And Policy Approaches, Lindsay Wiley, James G. Hodge Jr., Erin Fuse Brown, Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Unborn As Modern Day Eugenics, Stephanie Yu Lim

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

No abstract provided.

The "Public Health" Of The Conventional International Patent Régime And The Ethics Of "Ethicals:" Access To Patented Medicines, Amir H. Khoury

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

United States Regulation Of Stem Cell Research: Recasting Government's Role And Questions To Be Resolved, Owen C. B. Hughes, Alan L. Jakimo, Michael J. Malinowski

Journal Articles

This article directly addresses the stem cell controversy, but also the broader history and norms regarding the roles of federal and state government in U.S. science research funding.

Do Norms Still Matter? The Corrosive Effects Of Globalization On The Vitality Of Norms, Patrick J. Keenan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Why does the process of globalization undermine the power of social norms to regulate behavior? Norms are the social regularities that shape individual behavior and help to create vibrant--or dysfunctional--communities. Most theories of norms do not account for the many ways that globalization affects the foundations of norms. This Article fills the gap by developing a more robust theory of the informal regulation of behavior that considers the ways that the process of globalization can interfere with the creation of norms and erode their power.

Drawing on behavioral economics, sociology, and criminology, the theory proposed in this Article contains three …

Rejection Of The Need For Informed Consent In Prostate Tissue Sample Research, William Hanes

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Rachel Kalman

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Lessons From India In Organizational Innovation: A Tale Of Two Heart Hospitals, Barak D. Richman, Krishna Udayakumar, Will Mitchell, Kevin A. Schulman

Faculty Scholarship

Recent discussions in health reform circles have pinned great hopes on the prospect of innovation as the solution to the high-cost, inadequate-quality U.S. health system. But U.S. health care institutions--insurers, providers and specialists--have ceded leadership in innovation to Indian hospitals such as Care Hospital in Hyderabad and the Fortis Hospitals around New Delhi, which have U.S.-trained doctors and can perform open heart surgery for $6000 (compared to $100,000 in the United States). The Indian success is a window into America's stalemate with inflating costs and stagnant innovation.

Final Report Of The Experts Committee For Human Research Participant Protection In Canada, Jocelyn Downie

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Experts Committee for Human Research Participant Protection in Canada presents herewith its final report and recommendations concerning the development of a new comprehensive system in Canada. The final report is the product of some twenty months work. Beginning in September, 2006 and ending February, 2007 the Committee held monthly face-to-face meetings which it supplemented by conference calls and the circulation of draft texts by various members. During the course of its work, the Committee assessed the concerns that had been raised about the existing Canadian governance arrangements and then examined alternative models that might serve to deal effectively with …

Relational Duties, Regulatory Duties, And The Widening Gap Between Individual Health Law And Collective Health Policy, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

In response to a prominent editorial by Dr. Jeffrey M. Drazen, Professor Sage explains how a relational approach has impeded health law's ability to effectively govern the American health care system, arguing that health law has traditionally focused on the physician-patient encounter rather than on achieving collective objectives (which he calls regulatory duties). Professor Sage traces health law's relational emphasis to private and public law, professional ethics and bioethics, budgetary and general politics, and health care consumerism. He concludes that four areas of health policy-conflicts of interest in biomedical research, managed care and pay-for-performance, health care transparency and education, and …

Access This: Why Institutions Of Higher Education Must Provide Access To The Internet To Students With Disabilities, Nina Golden

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

No one questions whether the ADA applies to institutions of higher education. Title II applies to public colleges and universities, while Title III applies to private ones. With some exceptions, colleges and universities must make their programs and services accessible by providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. What is significantly less clear, and thus the topic of dispute among courts and commentators, is whether the ADA requires colleges and universities to provide access to the Internet to students with disabilities. Much of the dispute revolves around the meaning of the term "place of public accommodation." Some courts have required …

Asking For Money Back - Chilling Commercialization Or Recouping Public Trust In The Context Of Stem Cell Research?, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

As publicly funded institutions have increasingly embraced the goal of commercializing scientific research, concerns about private appropriation have become familiar refrain. One commonly suggested remedy is to create some kind of 'recoupment' provision whereby the State, on behalf of the public, receives a certain percentage of profits realized. The Bayh-Dole Act originally included a recoupment provision but it was deleted by a legislative committee. Countries around the globe attempting to emulate Bayh-Dole have, whether by design or default, reinforced the underlying logic against recoupment, which is essentially as follows: obligations to provide direct financial returns undermine the commercialization process and …

The Therapeutic Misconception: A Threat To Valid Parental Consent For Paediatric Neuroimaging Research, Michael Hadskis, Nuala Kenny, Jocelyn Downie, Matthias Schmidt, Ryan D'Arcy

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Neuroimaging research has brought major advances to child health and well-being. However, because of the vulnerabilities associated with neurological and developmental conditions, the parental need for hope, and the expectation of parents that new medical advances can benefit their child, pediatric neuroimaging research presents significant challenges to the general problem of consent in the context of research involving children. A particular challenge in this domain is created by the presence of therapeutic misconception on the part of parents and other key research stakeholders. This article reviews the concept of therapeutic misconception and its role in pediatric neuroimaging research. It argues …

Prenatal Management Of Anencephaly, Rebecca Cook, Joanna Erdman, Martin Hevia, Bernard Dickens

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

About a third of anencephalic fetuses are born alive, but they are not conscious or viable, and soon die. This neural tube defect can be limited by dietary consumption of foliates, and detected prenatally by ultrasound and other means. Many laws permit abortion, on this indication or on the effects of pregnancy and prospects of delivery on a woman's physical or mental health. However, abortion is limited under some legal systems, particularly in South America. To avoid criminal liability, physicians will not terminate pregnancies, by induced birth or abortion, without prior judicial approval. Argentinian courts have developed means to resolve …

Health Equity, Hpv And The Cervical Cancer Vaccine, Joanna Erdman

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article explores the relationship between technological innovation and health inequity. It examines in particular the relationship between the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the cause of cervical cancer, and inequity in cervical cancer incidence and mortality. In Canada, screening programs have drastically reduced the incidence of cervical cancer, but their benefits have been unequally distributed. Prevention efforts have disproportionately failed women of disadvantaged social groups. Technological innovation alone will not remedy this inequity. The HPV vaccine merely expands the available means for reducing or increasing health inequity depending on its implementation. For this reason, the article looks beyond …