Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Grand Bargains For Big Data: The Emerging Law Of Health Information, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Filial Support Laws In The Modern Era: Domestic And International Comparison Of Enforcement Practices For Laws Requiring Adult Children To Support Indigent Parents, Katherine C. Pearson

Faculty Scholarship

Family responsibility and support laws have a long but mixed history. When first enacted, policy makers used such laws to declare an official policy that family members should support each other, rather than draw upon public resources. This article tracks modern developments with filial support laws that purport to obligate adult children to financially assist their parents, if indigent or needy. The author diagrams filial support laws that have survived in the 21st Century and compares core components in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and post-Soviet Union Ukraine. While the laws are often similar in wording and declared intent, …

'No Body Left Behind': Re-Orienting School-Based Childhood Obesity Interventions, Lindsay Wiley

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Although there are now laws on the books in virtually every jurisdiction aimed at addressing childhood obesity in K-12 schools, these efforts are inadequate and may even be misguided in important ways. Efforts aimed at health promotion - through healthier eating and increased physical activity - remain woefully underfunded even as they proliferate at every level of government. It is one thing to enact a requirement that all schools offer a minimum number of minutes of physical education each week or that school lunches include more fruits and vegetables. But it is quite another to make the budgetary commitment to …

The Ambition And Transformative Potential Of Progressive Property, Ezra Rosser

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The emerging progressive property school celebrates and finds its meaning in the social nature of property. Rejecting the idea that exclusion lies at the core of property law, progressive property scholars call for a reconsideration of the relationships owners and nonowners have with property and with each other. Despite these ambitions, progressive property scholarship has so far largely confined itself to questions of exclusion and access. This Essay argues that such an emphasis glosses over race-related acquisition and distribution problems that pervade American history and property law. The modest structural changes supported by progressive property scholars fail to account for …

Shame, Blame, And The Emerging Law Of Obesity Control, Lindsay Wiley

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In using law as a tool to combat the obesity epidemic, legal scholars and policymakers are drawing heavily on the lessons of tobacco control. This Article describes the resulting emergence of "obesity control law" and argues for a radical reorientation of it from a "denormalization" strategy based on the tobacco control experience to a "destigmatization" strategy based on the HIV prevention experience. The war on obesity is nearing a political crossroads. Subsidies and food industry regulations aimed at making our environment more conducive to physical activity and healthy eating are in danger of losing out to cheaper and more politically …

Health Care Cost Containment: No Longer An Option But A Mandate, Susan A. Channick

Faculty Scholarship

The growth in health care costs in the United States in the past two decades has been staggering and extraordinarily burdensome not only to the federal and state governments but also to employers and individuals who purchase their health insurance in the private market. According to a recent report by the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, four major and interrelated reasons are the significant drivers of the persistent rise in health care costs in excess of economic growth. The first is over-insurance due to the favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsored insurance to which approximately fifty-eight percent of non-elderly Americans have …

Lessons From Personhood's Defeat: Abortion Restrictions And Side Effects On Women's Health, Maya Manian

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

State personhood laws pose a puzzle. These laws would establish fertilized eggs as persons and, by doing so, would ban all abortions. Many states have consistently supported laws restricting abortion care. Yet, thus far no personhood laws have passed. Why? This Article offers a possible explanation and draws lessons from that explanation for understanding and resisting abortion restrictions more broadly. I suggest that voters’ recognition of the implications of personhood legislation for health issues other than abortion may have led to personhood’s defeat. In other words, opponents of personhood proposals appear to have successfully reconnected abortion to pregnancy care, contraception, …

John Brown Went Off To War: Considering Veterans’ Courts As Problem-Solving Courts, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

In this paper, I seek to contextualize veterans courts in light of the therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) movement, the turn to problem-solving courts of all sorts (especially focusing on mental health courts), and the societal ambivalence that we have shown to veterans in the four decades since the Vietnam war.

I argue that TJ’s focuses on how law actually impacts people’s lives, on the law’s influence on emotional life and psychological well-being and on the need for law to value psychological health and avoid the imposition of anti-therapeutic consequences whenever possible can serve as a template for a veterans courts model …

Whose Pregnancy Is It Anyway? The Intrusion Of Abortion-Related Informed Consent Laws And Compelled Medical Treatment On The Doctor-Pregnant Patient Relationship, Jennifer Jascoll

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Bloomberg’S Health Legacy: Urban Innovator Or Meddling Nanny?, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Michael Bloomberg leaves the mayoralty of New York City, with his health legacy is bitterly contested. The public health community views him as an urban innovator—a rare political and business leader willing to fight for a built environment conducive to healthier, safer lifestyles. To his distractors, however, Bloomberg epitomizes a meddling nanny—an elitist dictating to largely poor and working class people about how they ought to lead their lives. His policies have sparked intense public, corporate, and political ire—critical of sweeping mayoral power to socially engineer the city and its inhabitants.

Here, I seek to show how Bloomberg has fundamentally …

Late Fathers' Later Children: Reconceiving The Limits Of Survivor's Benefits In Response To Death-Defying Reproductive Technology, Jeffrey W. Sheehan

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

When Congress instructed the Social Security Administration to begin paying a social insurance benefit to "widows and orphans" in the 1930s, it simplified the process of determining an applicant's relationship to an insured decedent in two significant ways: First, Congress ordered the agency to honor the intestate laws of each state when determining whether an applicant was actually the child of a decedent, and second, it ordered the agency to treat any child who could qualify as an intestate heir as if that child actually depended on the parent financially at the time of the parent's death. Three-quarters of a …

Malpractice Mobs: Medical Dispute Resolution In China, Benjamin L. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

China has experienced a surge in medical disputes in recent years, on the streets and in the courts. Many disputes result in violence. Quantitative and qualitative empirical evidence of medical malpractice litigation and medical disputes in China reveals a dynamic in which the formal legal system operates in the shadow of protest and violence. The threat of violence leads hospitals to settle claims for more money than would be available in court and also influences how judges handle cases that do wind up in court. The detailed evidence regarding medical disputes presented in this Essay adds depth to existing understanding …

A Tale Of Three Hoaxes: When Literature Offends The Law, Molly Guptill Manning

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

High Court To Consider Global Aids Funding Restrictions, Arthur S. Leonard

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

When Everyone Is An Orphan: Against Adopting A Us-Styled Orphan Drug Policy In Canada, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Putting aside whether diseases that affect only small numbers of people ("rare diseases") should be prioritized over diseases that are otherwise orphaned, in this paper I argue that a new approach to rare, orphan diseases is needed. The current model, first signaled by the United States’ Orphan Drug Act and subsequently emulated by several other jurisdictions, relies on a set of open-ended criteria and market-based incentives in order to define and encourage drug therapies for rare, orphan diseases. Given a) the biopharmaceutical industries’ growing interest in orphan diseases, b) progress in the sphere of personalized medicines enabling more and more …

Protecting Rights And Building Capacities: Challenges To Global Mental Health Policy In Light Of The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Sheila Wildeman

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The World Health Organization (WHO) has in the last decade identified mental health as a priority for global health promotion and international development, to be targeted through promulgation of evidence-based medical practices, health systems reform, and respect for human rights. Yet these overlapping strategies are marked by tensions as the historical primacy of expert-led initiatives is increasingly subject to challenge by new social movements – in particular, disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs). These tensions come into focus upon situating the WHO’s contributions to the analysis of global mental health in light of the negotiation and early stages of implementation of the …

Legislating Interprofessional Regulatory Collaboration In Nova Scotia, William Lahey Prof.

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

To shift health professions regulation from traditional to ‘collaborative’ self-regulation, Nova Scotia has adopted legislation which will: make all self-regulating health professions members of the Regulated Health Professions Network; mandate the Network to facilitate voluntary collaboration among its members; and enable regulators to work together on investigations of patient complaints, to adjust scopes of practice on an ongoing basis and to adjudicate appeals of unsuccessful applicants for registration. The goals are to give health professions regulation the capacity to enable and support the functioning of interprofessional teams. The legislation was adopted primarily for two reasons: collaborative development and unanimous support …

Updated Who Guidance On Safe Abortion: Health And Human Rights, Joanna Erdman, Teresa Depiñeres, Eszter Kismodi

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Since its first publication in 2003, the World Health Organization's “Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems” has had an influence on abortion policy, law, and practice worldwide. To reflect significant developments in the clinical, service delivery, and human rights aspects of abortion care, the Guidance was updated in 2012. This article reviews select recommendations of the updated Guidance, highlighting 3 key themes that run throughout its chapters: evidence-based practice and assessment, human rights standards, and a pragmatic orientation to safe and accessible abortion care. These themes not only connect the chapters into a coherent whole. They reflect …

The Speakers’ Bureau System: A Form Of Peer Selling, Lynette Reid, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Physicians need to stay abreast of information about emerging drugs and devices, but the time pressures of clinical practice may limit their ability to do so independently. The companies that manufacture and sell these products have the resources and the motivation to “educate” physicians but cannot be expected to distinguish their marketing goals from physicians’ educational needs. Physicians’ professional associations and regulatory bodies, as well as medical journal publishers and editors, drug and device regulatory agencies, and academic medical institutions, have long debated their respective roles and responsibilities in ensuring the safety, efficacy, and probity of prescribing in light of …

Regulating Prescription Drugs For Patient Safety: Does Bill C-17 Go Far Enough?, Matthew Herder, Elaine Gibson, Janice Graham, Joel Lexchin, Barbara Mintzes

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Canada was the last developed country in the world to remove thalidomide from the market, and doing so required an Act of Parliament. At the request of Health Canada’s then Food and Drug Directorate, thalidomide’s two manufacturers voluntarily withdrew the drug from the market on Mar. 2, 1962. However, most of the drug’s distribution was in the form of free samples to medical professionals, which the directorate had no legal authority to control. Therefore, to avoid similar situations in the future and to stop sales of thalidomide, on Dec. 4, 1962, the Parliament of Canada amended the Food and Drugs …

Moving Forward With A Clear Conscience: A Model Conscientious Objection Policy For Canadian Colleges Of Physicians And Surgeons, Jocelyn Downie, Jacquelyn Shaw, Carolyn Mcleod

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In 2008, one of us (JD) together with the former Dean of Law at the University of Ottawa (Sanda Rodgers), wrote a guest editorial for the Canadian Medical Association Journal on the topic of access to abortion in Canada. In the editorial, we argued, among other things, that "health care professionals who withhold a diagnosis, fail to provide appropriate referrals, delay access, misdirect women or provide punitive treatment are committing malpractice and risk lawsuits and disciplinary proceedings." In response to a series of letters to the editor written about our editorial, we wrote that, under the CMA Code of Ethics …

The Impact Of Medical Liability Standards On Regional Variations In Physician Behavior: Evidence From The Adoption Of National-Standard Rules, Michael D. Frakes

Faculty Scholarship

I explore the association between regional variations in physician behavior and the geographical scope of malpractice standards of care. I estimate a 30–50 percent reduction in the gap between state and national utilization rates of various treatments and diagnostic procedures following the adoption of a rule requiring physicians to follow national, as opposed to local, standards. These findings suggest that standardization in malpractice law may lead to greater standardization in practices and, more generally, that physicians may indeed adhere to specific liability standards. In connection with the estimated convergence in practices, I observe no associated changes in patient health.

Undue Burdens In Texas, Jennifer S. Hendricks

Publications

No abstract provided.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Impeding The Right To Informed Decision Making, Alice X. Chen

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) in the United States engage in deceptive practices to deter women from obtaining abortions, often masquerading as medical facilities while providing misleading information about reproductive health. These centers receive significant funding from federal and state governments, despite their lack of regulation and medical licensure. The note contends that while local governments have attempted to regulate CPCs through ordinances requiring transparency, these efforts have largely been struck down by federal courts on First Amendment grounds. The author advocates for state-level action to protect women's rights to informed decision-making and accurate reproductive healthcare.

Role-Modeling: How The Americans With Disabilities Act Blocks Bmi-Based Hiring Bans In The United States, Sarah Budow

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The global fashion industry's use of extremely thin models contributes to eating disorders by promoting unattainable beauty standards. In response, some countries have implemented laws restricting underweight models, such as Israel's 2012 law requiring a BMI of 18.5 or higher and mandating warnings for altered images. However, similar measures in the U.S. face legal challenges under the ADA, which prohibits employment discrimination based on disabilities, including eating disorders. The ADA's strict standards for defining disabilities and requiring individualized assessments make BMI-based bans difficult to enforce. While some U.S. states have taken steps like banning airbrushing or protecting underage models, broader …

A Response To Beyond Separation: Professor Copeland’S Ambitious Proposal For “Integrative” Federalism, Elizabeth Weeks

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Plunging Into Endless Difficulties: Medicaid And Coercion In National Federation Of Independent Business V. Sebelius, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, Nicole Huberfield, Kevin Outterson

Scholarly Works

Of the four discrete questions before the Court in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Medicaid expansion held the greatest potential for destabilization from both a statutory and a constitutional perspective. As authors of an amicus brief supporting the Medicaid expansion, and scholars with expertise in health law who have been cited by the Court, we show in this article why NFIB is likely to fulfill that promise.

For the first time in its history, the Court held federal legislation based upon the spending power to be unconstitutionally coercive. Chief Justice Roberts’ plurality (joined for future voting purposes …

Employers United: An Empirical Analysis Of Corporate Political Speech In The Wake Of The Affordable Care Act, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, Susan Scholz, Raquel Meyer Alexander

Scholarly Works

Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) bad for business? Did the countries' most prominent companies game the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure process to make negative political statements about ObamaCare? Immediately following the ACA's enactment on March 23, 2010, a number of companies drew scrutiny for issuing SEC filings writing off millions – and in AT&T's case, one billion dollars – against expected earnings for 2010 alone, based on a single, discrete tax-law change in the ACA. Congressional and Administration officials accused the firms of being "irresponsible" and using "big numbers to exaggerate the health reform's …

Death Panels And The Rhetoric Of Rationing, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard

Scholarly Works

This essay offers an explanation for the United States' continued resistance to universal health care as grounded in two taboos: taxation and rationing. Even we were willing to pay more in taxes to directly subsidize the cost of medical care for those in need, rather than our current system of indirect subsidization through private insurance risk-pooling and cost-shifting, we still would face the unavoidable reality of resource limitations. Attempts to limit resource consumption, however, have been strongly opposed, as evidenced by the "death panels" controversy. Governor Palin's grossly erroneous characterization of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) rendered …

Prioritizing Abortion Access Over Abortion Safety In Pennsylvania, Randy Beck

Scholarly Works

This conference was prompted by the prosecution of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who ran an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gosnell was convicted in May of 2013 of charges arising from the killing of viable infants born in his clinic, the negligent death of an adult patient, and the systematic disregard of regulations governing the performance of abortions in Pennsylvania. One question proposed for our consideration is whether Dr. Gosnell is an “outlier,” a description offered by the National Abortion Federation following Gosnell’s indictment.

Presumably, one might want to know whether Gosnell was typical of abortion providers because it could …