Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Accidental Injury Or Occupational Disease? Where American Workers' Compensation Law Currently Stands And Where It Should Go In Preparing For Pandemics, Delaney Williams J.D. Candidate

Belmont Health Law Journal

Section I of this Note will introduce the basics of workers' compensation law, including the history of infectious diseases as compensable workplace injuries in the field of American workers' compensation law. Section II explains the fundamentals of both the occupational disease theory and accidental injury theory as a means for recovery when an infectious disease is contracted int he workplace. This section further explores how both theories, in their current state, fail to adequately protect employees in a pandemic emergency. Finally, Section III of this Note provides guidance on how state legislatures may proactively amend their workers' compensation schemes to …

Medical-Legal Partnerships In Smaller Communities- Symposium Panel, Doug Mefford, Charleyn Reviere, David Clay

Belmont Health Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Disparities In The Use Of Prophylactic Treatments In Reproductive Health Between The Sexes: A Recommendation For The Use Of Hpv Vaccination Schemes Rather Than Surgical Interventions To Reduce Inequities And Threats To The Public’S Health, Paul Mclaughlin

Scholarly Works

This Article will examine the unequal treatment of the sexes under the law with regard to prophylactic treatments against STDs. The second section of this Article will discuss the ethical and legal issues in the use of prophylactic treatments and the issues involving informed consent regarding their use. The third section of this Article will discuss the historic and current use of prophylactic surgeries on both sexes to prevent disease and the challenges that have been raised against such practices. The fourth section of this Article will discuss the use of the H.P.V. vaccinations in both sexes to reduce the …

Locked Up And Locked Down In The Land Of Free: A Look At The United States' Prisons And Covid-19'S Disproportionate Effect On Black Americans' Right To Health, Zachary Parrish

American University International Law Review

The United States is infamous for having a large percentage of its population in prison. Each year since 2002, the United States has reported a higher incarceration rate than any other country in the world. Another unfortunate but widely prevalent issue that the United States has is systemic racism. The combination of the United States’ struggles with systemic racism and mass incarceration makes for a disproportionately devastating impact on Black Americans. As a result, Black Americans make up a disproportionate amount of the prisoners that fill American prisons.

El Control Estatal De La (Des)Informacion En Internet En El Contexto De La Pandemia: Un Analisis De Las Tendencias Regionales Bajo Una Perspectiva De Libertad De Expresion, Paula Roko

American University International Law Review

El 3 de mayo de 2020, en el marco del Día Mundial de la Libertad de Prensa, el secretario general de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) afirmó que la desinformación se ha convertido en la “segunda pandemia”. Unos meses antes, el Director General de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) ya había señalado que “las noticias falsas se difunden más rápido y con más facilidad que el virus, y que son igual de peligrosas”. Estos fueron comentarios recurrentes durante el 2020, un año que será recordado por el estallido de una pandemia mundial sin precedentes. Teorías conspirativas …

Derogations To Human Rights During A Global Pandemic: Unpacking Normative And Practical Challenges, Roman Girma Teshome

American University International Law Review

After the World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a “global pandemic,” States responded by taking more restrictive and urgent measures. These measures ranged from restrictions on public events to partial or total lockdowns, which restrict a plethora of human rights. Additionally, an unprecedented number of States declared a state of emergency to justify these measures; as of this writing, roughly two-thirds of States declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19 under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”).

E-Racing Tobacco & Nicotine-Related Health Disparities, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

In the past, tobacco companies used targeted advertising to integrate menthol cigarettes and addict the Black community, generating tobacco-related health disparities. As Juul has come under attack, they have utilized the tobacco playbook to protect itself and deflect criticism by donating to a historically Black medical school and recruiting leaders in the Black community. This helped to create a "Black shield" for menthol cigarettes, which are only now at risk of being regulated, and has the potential to do the same in the vape industry. If proactive steps are not undertaken, health tobacco-related health disparities will continue.

Fraud Law And Misinfodemics, Wes Henricksen

Utah Law Review

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many on whom the public depended for truthful information purposefully or recklessly spread misinformation that put thousands at risk. The term “misinfodemic,” coined in 2019, describes such events where misinformation facilitates the spread of a disease or causes some other health-related outcome. Though the term was only recently defined, the recent misinfodemic was not a new or novel phenomenon. False information is spread to the public all the time. This often results in harm to public health. False claims are communicated by corporations seeking to mislead the public to make more money, by politicians to gain …

Maternity Rights: A Comparative View Of Mexico And The United States, Roberto Rosas

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Women play a large role in the workplace and require additional protection during pregnancy, childbirth, and while raising children. This article compares how Mexico and the United States have approached the issue of maternity rights and benefits. First, Mexico provides eighty-four days of paid leave to mothers, while the United States provides unpaid leave for up to twelve weeks. Second, Mexico allows two thirty-minute breaks a day for breastfeeding, while the United States allows a reasonable amount of time per day to breastfeed. Third, Mexico provides childcare to most federal employees, while the United States provides daycares to a small …

One Child Town: The Health Care Exceptionalism Case Against Agglomeration Economies, Elizabeth Weeks

Utah Law Review

This Article offers an extended rebuttal to the suggestion to move residents away from dying communities to places with greater economic promise. Rural America, arguably, is one of those dying places. A host of strategies aim to shore up those communities and make them more economically viable. But one might ask, “Why bother?” In a similar vein, David Schleicher’s provocative 2017 Yale Law Journal article, Stuck! The Law and Economics of Residential Stagnation, recommended dismantling a host of state and local government laws that operate as barriers to migration by Americans from failing economies to robust agglomeration economies. But Schleicher …

Disparities In Health Care: The Pandemic’S Lessons For Health Lawyers, Danielle Pelfrey Duryea, Nicole Huberfeld, Ruqaiijah Yearby

Faculty Scholarship

Population-level disparities in health and health care came to the forefront of U.S. public consciousness in 2020. As the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic stratification of COVID-19 infection and death rates emerged with chilling clarity, the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer focused millions of Americans on the complex, structural nature of inequity and its long-lasting effects.

Access to quality health care is a “social determinant of health,” meaning that it is one of the “non-medical factors that influence health outcomes . . . the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set …

Keynote: The Digital Future Of Healthcare: Emerging Trends In Telehealth Technology, Professor Stacy Tovino, Dr. Davis Charles

Belmont Health Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Panel: Telehealth Legal Considerations, Travis Lloyd, Nathan Kottkamp, Nesrin Tift

Belmont Health Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Student Note: The Nfl And Opioid Abuse: Choosing The Best Route To Tackle A Difficult Problem, Jacob Freeland

Belmont Health Law Journal

Based on current precedent, legal relief is not a viable solution to remedy the NFL’s ongoing substance abuse issues. However, the long-term safety of current and future football players, as well as the integrity of the sport, can be saved if instead of resorting to the courts, the players take this battle to state and federal legislatures while simultaneously promoting cultural awareness of the dangers that these prescription practices pose to past, current, and future football players. Part II of this note will examine the relevant legal and procedural history of opioid-related lawsuits that have been filed against the NFL …

Student Note: To Err Is Human, Unless You Are A Healthcare Provider, Jorie Zajicek

Belmont Health Law Journal

This note will explore the rise of criminal prosecutions of health care providers for medical errors, absent any intent to harm.46 This note will demonstrate that in the interest of patient safety and error prevention, there are alternative forms of punishment, other than criminal prosecution, that are better suited to address medical errors when there is no intent to do harm. Part II of this note lays out mechanisms currently in place to address medical errors. Part III attempts to address why some cases are criminally prosecuted by analyzing specific cases. Next, Part IV explores arguments for and against criminal …

Student Note: Finding A Cure To Gun Violence: How Improving America's Mental Health System Could Prevent Future Gun Violence, Paige Goodwin

Belmont Health Law Journal

This Note will demonstrate how gun control legislation aimed at individuals with mental illnesses has been politically untenable and ineffective at preventing incidents of gun violence. Section II of this Note will introduce the history of both federal and state laws regulating gun control, highlighting those targeting individuals with mental health issues and examining major flaws in the legislation that undermines the federal background check system.

Next, Section III will explain why existing gun legislation is unworkable and ineffective, specifically addressing the discrepancies between various state and federal laws and the barriers to mental health treatment that further hinder gun …

Quarantine, Isolation, And Metaphorical Takings: Balancing Individual Rights And Public Health Responses To Disease Outbreaks, Thomas Williams

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Quarantine and isolation are methods employed by public health officials to control the spread of dangerous disease pathogens through physical isolation of those exposed or symptomatic. While use of these methods has declined in the last century through advances in medical knowledge and treatment, emerging disease threats will likely require increased reliance on them. Despite this, quarantine statutes and related regulations fail to provide compensation to those subject to them, and little recourse exists to make those individuals whole for losses incurred, though the pandemic has highlighted a need for work in this area. One means of shifting the burden …

Adding Principle To Pragmatism: The Transformative Potential Of "Medicare-For-All" In Post-Pandemic Health Reform, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

“Medicare-for-All” should be more than a badge of political identity or opposition. This Article examines the concept’s potential to catalyze policy innovation in the U.S. health care system. After suggesting that the half century of existing Medicare has been as much “Gilded Age” as “Golden Age,” the Article arrays the operational possibilities for a Medicare-for-All initiative. It revisits America’s recent history of pragmatic rather than principled health policy, and identifies professional and political barriers to more sweeping reform. It focuses on four aspects of health policy that have become apparent: simultaneous inefficiency and injustice in medical care, neglect of the …

Post-Pandemic Privacy Law, Tiffany C. Li

Law Faculty Scholarship

COVD-19, the global pandemic that began in 2019, altered how we live our lives in just about every way imaginable. Some of those changes were obvious-for example, those who were fortunate enough to be able to work from home began working online-while other changes were more subtle. The latter category included unprecedented levels of data collection by governments and organizations purporting to collect information that would help stop the pandemic's spread. Given the deadly nature of COVID-19, few would question any public health efforts, no matter their impact on privacy. However, the lack of attention to privacy issues during the …

Social Justice, Civil Rights, And Bioethics, Kathy Cerminara

Faculty Scholarship

A stunning confluence of events in the United States in the first few months of 2020 have illustrated pervasive systemic prejudice against vulnerable people resulting in increased risk of death. Combined and situated among other, similar incidents too numerous to mention here, they present an opportunity for bioethicists to help change the impact of implicit bias, white privilege, and prejudice in shaping the very ability to live a healthy life in America. The current lack of care and even outright cruelty rendering a variety of vulnerable populations susceptible to early death illustrate why there must be more attention paid to …

Disparities In Health Care: The Pandemic’S Lessons For Health Lawyers, Danielle Pelfrey Duryea, Nicole Huberfeld, Ruqaiijah Yearby

All Faculty Scholarship

Population-level disparities in health and health care came to the forefront of U.S. public consciousness in 2020. As the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic stratification of COVID-19 infection and death rates emerged with chilling clarity, the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer focused millions of Americans on the complex, structural nature of inequity and its long-lasting effects.

Access to quality health care is a “social determinant of health,” meaning that it is one of the “non-medical factors that influence health outcomes . . . the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set …

Disease And Data In Society: How The Pandemic Expanded Data Collection And Surveillance Systems, Alan Butler, Enid Zhou

American University Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic1 is a global tragedy of historic proportions, and its impacts on our families, communities, and social structures will be felt for many years to come. From the significant to the mundane, COVID-19 has changed many aspects of daily life. One of the less obvious but more long-lasting changes may well be the expansion of data collection and surveillance systems adopted both in response to, and as a result of, the pandemic.

Identifying Meaningful Dietary Intake And Physical Activity Questions For Individual And Population Health, Jennifer Bennett Shinall, David G. Schlundt, Et Al.

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

We aimed to identify valid screening questions for adults regarding physical activity and dietary behaviours that (a) were correlated with BMI, (b) were deemed by patients and providers to be relevant to clinical care, and (c) have utility for longitudinal understanding of health behaviours in populations. The goal was to identify screening questions that could be implemented at annual health care visits. First, we identified dietary behaviour questions and solicited patient input. Next, we tested both physical activity and dietary behaviour questions in a large sample to test their potential utility. Finally, we used cognitive interviews with patients and physicians …

A Code Of Ethics For Gene Drive Research, George J. Annas, Chase L. Beisel, Kendell Clement, Andrea Crisanti, Stacy Francis, Marco Galardini, Roberto Galizi, Julian Grunewald, Greta Immobile, Ahmad S. Khalil, Ruth Muller, Vikram Pattanayak, Karl Petri, Ligi Paul, Luca Pinello, Alekos Simoni, Chrysanthi Taxiarchi, J. Keith Joung

Faculty Scholarship

Gene drives hold promise for use in controlling insect vectors of diseases, agricultural pests, and for conservation of ecosystems against invasive species. At the same time, this technology comes with potential risks that include unknown downstream effects on entire ecosystems as well as the accidental or nefarious spread of organisms that carry the gene drive machinery. A code of ethics can be a useful tool for all parties involved in the development and regulation of gene drives and can be used to help ensure that a balanced analysis of risks, benefits, and values is taken into consideration in the interest …

One Child Town: The Health Care Exceptionalism Case Against Agglomeration Economies, Elizabeth Weeks

Scholarly Works

This Article offers an extended rebuttal to the suggestion to move residents away from dying communities to places with greater economic promise. Rural America, arguably, is one of those dying places. A host of strategies aim to shore up those communities and make them more economically viable. But one might ask, “Why bother?” In similar vein, David Schleicher’s provocative 2017 Yale Law Journal article, Stuck! The Law and Economics of Residential Stagnation urged dismantling a host of state and local government laws operating as barriers to migration by Americans from failing economies to robust agglomeration economies. But Schleicher said little …

Video; Health Law & Ethics 2020, Kathy Cerminara, Jonathan Kroner Law Office, Mcdermott Will & Emery Llp, Lubell & Rosen, Gerald M. Morris

NSU Law Seminar Series

This program will focus on the current climate of health law and the necessary steps used through federal practice to adjust to the ever-changing atmosphere of new legislation. Attendees will learn about the various paths within the practice, about emerging new laws, outreach and training, and how to become involved in the federal practice of health law. The presenters will explain what you need to get started, what different types of experiences and exposure might be helpful in entering the field and instruct you on maintaining ethics by knowing and following the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Model Rules …

Telehealth And Telework Accessibility In A Pandemic-Induced Virtual World, Blake Reid, Christian Vogler, Zainab Alkebsi

University of Colorado Law Review Forum

This short essay explores one dimension of disability law’s COVID-related “frailty”: how the pandemic has undermined equal access to employment and healthcare for Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing as healthcare and employment migrate toward telehealth and telework activities. This essay’s authors—a clinical law professor; a computer scientist whose research focuses on accessible technology; and a deaf policy attorney for the nation’s premier civil rights organization of, by, and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States—have collaborated over the past months on detailed advocacy documents aimed at helping deaf and hard of hearing patients …

Tuberculosis, Human Rights, And Law Reform: Addressing The Lack Of Progress In The Global Tuberculosis Response, Matthew M. Kavanagh, Lawrence O. Gostin, John Stephens

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly convened the first-ever high-level meeting (HLM) on tuberculosis (TB). Since that time news on the world’s most lethal infectious disease is not good—the 2019 WHO TB report shows 1.2 million people died from TB, a number that has fallen just 11% since 2015, less than one-third of the way towards the End TB Strategy milestone of a 35% reduction (to about 850 million deaths) by 2020. The same number of people, 10.0 million, are estimated to have fallen ill with TB in 2018 as in 2017. The stubborn persistence of TB is attributable …

Paying For Unapproved Medical Products, Kelly Mcbride Folkers, Alison Bateman-House, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

This symposium article examines the use of investigational (un-approved) medical products in the United States, with particular focus on who pays for this use. In the United States, the question of who pays for the use of approved medical products for their intended indications is complicated enough, with some expenses borne by private payers, some by public payers, some covered as charity care, and some paid out of pocket by patients. A separate question is off-label use, in which an approved medical product is used for an unapproved indication. In this article, we focus on a narrower issue: what entities …

Setting The Standard: Multidisciplinary Hallmarks For Structural, Equitable And Tracked Antibiotic Policy, Claas Kirchhelle, Paul Atkinson, Alex Broom, Komatra Chuengsatiansup, Jorge Pinto Ferreira, Nicolas Fortané, Isabel Frost, Christoph Gradmann, Stephen Hinchliffe, Steven J. Hoffman, Javier Lezaun, Susan Nayiga, Scott H. Podolsky, Kevin Outterson, Stephanie Raymond, Adam P. Roberts, Andrew C. Singer, Anthony D. So, Luechai Sringernyuang, Elizabeth Tayler, Susan Rogers Van Katwyk, Clare I. R. Chandler

Faculty Scholarship

There is increasing concern globally about the enormity of the threats posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to human, animal, plant and environmental health. A proliferation of international, national and institutional reports on the problems posed by AMR and the need for antibiotic stewardship have galvanised attention on the global stage. However, the AMR community increasingly laments a lack of action, often identified as an ‘implementation gap’. At a policy level, the design of internationally salient solutions that are able to address AMR’s interconnected biological and social (historical, political, economic and cultural) dimensions is not straightforward. This multidisciplinary paper responds by …