Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Health Truth To Power: Professional Collaboration To Bolster Trust Against Misinformation, William M. Sage, Keegan D. Warren

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is about health, leaving aside more general challenges to shared civic information today. The Article begins by surveying the principal challenges for health information in post-pandemic, arguably post-truth America, and then describes briefly the sources and limits of medical professional authority. Noting the double-edged sword of free speech guarantees under the U.S. Constitution, the Article continues by commenting on speaking truth to government, to industry, and to the crowd. Next, the Article considers the physicians’ role in speaking truth to power from the perspective of standard medical professional ethics and identity, comparing it to that of lawyers. Finally, …

Dampak Peraturan Daerah Terkait Kesehatan Terhadap Prevalensi Stunting Tingkat Kabupaten/Kota Di Indonesia, Cakra Yudi Putra, Teguh Dartanto

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Stunting remains a major public health challenge in Indonesia with long-term impacts on health, cognition, and productivity. This study examines whether health-related regional regulations (Peraturan Daerah or Perda) reduce stunting prevalence across 338 districts/municipalities in 2007 and 2013. Using Difference-in-Differences (DiD) and DiD with Propensity Score Matching (DiD-PSM) on secondary data from Riskesdas, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), and the Legal Documentation and Information Network (JDIH), we find no statistically significant causal effect of cumulative health Perda on stunting reduction, although OLS shows a negative association. Sanitation significantly reduces stunting in eastern Indonesia. Findings highlight the need for evidence-based, multisectoral, measurable, implementable, …

Against A Medical Exception To Equal Protection, Govind Persad

Publications

Government regulations of medicine sometimes treat patients differently based on their race or sex. Does heightened scrutiny apply to such regulations—as is usual when law treats someone differently based on a protected characteristic? Or is there a medical exception to equal protection?

Recently, in United States v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court upheld a law that restricted access to medical treatments for transgender minors. Though its holding did not rely on medical exceptionalism, its discussion reinvigorated interest in a "medical exception" to equal protection: that medical decisions are exempt from the searching review applied when governmental decisions consider protected characteristics.

For …

Religious Riders And The Sherman Act, Bailey Sanders

Faculty Scholarship

Can corporations engage in anticompetitive behavior on the basis of religious belief? While the answer may seem like an obvious no, in fact this question has largely been overlooked. It has hovered at the margins of the debate over religious exemptions: Proponents of religious exemptions have essentially argued that there is no harm in providing such exemptions to businesses because a competitive market will ensure consumers who might be denied services or goods by a religious firm can still obtain those goods and services elsewhere. But what if religiously minded businesses act in ways that are specifically designed to limit …

The Effect Of Provider Diversity On Racial Health Disparities: Evidence From The Military, Michael Frakes, Jonathan Gruber

Faculty Scholarship

We assess the relationship between the racial diversity of medical providers and racial health disparities in the use of preventive care and in patient outcomes. We use unique data from the Military Health System, where we observe providers as patients so that we can identify their race, and where moves across bases change exposure to provider race in a plausibly exogenous fashion. We consider patients with four chronic, deadly, but manageable illnesses, where the relationship with the provider may have the most direct impact on health. We find striking evidence that provider racial diversity leads to reduced disparities in maintenance …

Cybersecurity Risk Shifting, Deborah R. Farringer

Law Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes the growing problem of ransomware attacks in the healthcare sector and evaluates the evolving legal frameworks used to address cybersecurity risks affecting patient data. The authors trace the rapid increase in ransomware incidents, driven in part by the rise of digital health records and cryptocurrency-enabled extortion, and highlight the significant operational and privacy harms resulting from such attacks. The article critically examines existing federal and state legal mechanisms—including statutes such as HIPAA, criminal fraud provisions, and emerging state-level immunity laws—and argues that current approaches are insufficient due to jurisdictional challenges, particularly the transnational nature of cybercrime and …

Algorithmic Medicine And The Duty To Disclose: Informed Consent Through The Lens Of Radiology, Lee Rodriguez

Michigan Law Review

Informed consent is the law’s mechanism for protecting patient autonomy by requiring disclosure of facts that bear on the decision to accept or refuse care. Artificial intelligence now helps decide what is medically true for patients, yet informed consent law still assumes that diagnostic judgment is rendered by a human mind whose reasoning is at least in principle communicable. Radiology has become the leading setting for this tension. AI systems triage worklists, flag suspected abnormalities, and anchor first-pass impressions in ways that guide radiologists’ attention and, in practice, can coauthor diagnostic conclusions while remaining invisible to patients. When patients are …

The Power And Peril Of The Aca's Universality At Fifteen, Nicole Huberfeld

Faculty Scholarship

As part of the symposium "15th Anniversary of the ACA: A Health Equity Review," this essay explores the ACA's mix of private law and public law provisions that rendered measurable improvements in health equity and health outcomes, especially for populations that experienced longstanding health disparities before its enactment.  Congress’s central objective was near-universal health insurance coverage, and the ACA employed a variety of mechanisms to reach that goal. The law’s health equity successes grew from establishing a principle of inclusion across federal statutes. This principle, which I have called “universality,” centered a human right to health approach: No longer would …

Social Science Contributions To The Global Action Plan On Antimicrobial Resistance Management, Mathieu Poirier, Jaskeerat Singh, Isaac Weldon, Clare I. R. Chandler, Daniela Corno, Laura Valtere, Pedro Henrique D Batista, Daniel Carelli, Geneviève Boily-Larouche, Sonia Lewycka, Fiona Emdin, Kathleen Liddell, Timo Minssen, Ilaria Natali, Susan Nayiga, Iruka N. Okeke, Emmanuel Olamijuwon, Kevin Outterson, Julianne Piper, Kayla Strong, Jarnail Singh Thakur, Kednapa Thavorn, Maarten Van Der Heijden, A. M. Viens, Mary Wiktorowicz, Steven J. Hoffman

Faculty Scholarship

Social science research on antimicrobial resistance has gained traction in the last decade, employing a diverse set of theoretical perspectives to better understand topics ranging from antimicrobial stewardship to political coordination.4 As the action plan commitments will be updated in 2026, an opportunity exists to employ a broader social science scope to accelerate national antimicrobial resistance interventions.

In January 2025, the Global strategy lab convened leading antimicrobial resistance social scientists from a variety of disciplines to determine which new ways of understanding antimicrobial resistance could catalyse and incentivize action. Three conceptions stood out as important to revisions of the action …

From Classroom To Courtroom: Vicarious Liability In Clinical Education, Grace M. Owens

Mercer Law Review

Vicarious liability has progressively extended its reach into the healthcare field. The advancement of clinical education and increased presence of medical students in the healthcare setting raises the question of who bears the legal responsibility for a student’s wrongful acts or omissions during the provision of medical care. In an attempt to conform to traditional tort ideals, should a medical student be solely responsible for their own actions? Conversely, should the medical institution or supervising physician pay the price of a student’s mistakes? Statham v. Quang demonstrates this tension and represents the Supreme Court of Georgia’s attempt to strike a …

Care Court: Unconstitutional And Ineffective, Samantha Moulton

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

The Community, Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act (CARE) subjects Californians with schizophrenia and related disorders to a grueling, invasive, and coercive court process that strips them of their fundamental rights. Worse yet, CARE forces people into this process for no reason because involuntary outpatient commitment does not work to reduce hospitalization, increase compliance with medication, or improve treatment outcomes. CARE is not only unconstitutional—it is morally objectionable. This Note first analyzes how CARE violates the due process clause by subjecting individuals who are not dangerous to themselves or others to a court proceeding and to potential involuntary commitment. Then, it …

Renown Regional Med. Center V. Dist. Ct., 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 64 (December 11, 2025), Jacob Stephenson

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Ordinary negligence sounds in professional negligence when it is based on conduct linked to a medical relationship.

Impact Of The 23andme Bankruptcy On Preserving The Public Benefit Of Scientific Data, Jonathan E. Lotempio Jr., Chistopher R. Donohue, Jonatahan D. Moreno, Ana Santos Rutschman, Joshua Sarnoff, Michael S. Sinha, Thomas Stoeger, Jorge L. Contreras

Faculty Publications

The bankruptcy of 23andMe was an inflection point for the direct-to-consumer genetics market. Although the privacy of consumer data has been highlighted by many as a concern, we discuss another key tension in this case: the corporate enclosure of scientific data that has considerable potential value for biomedical research and public health.

Magic Mushrooms As Medicine: What The United States Can Learn From Jamaica’S Unregulated Psilocybin Industry As Fda Approval Nears, Kyle Spohn

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act and swiftly placed psilocybin (the active chemical in “magic mushrooms”) under Schedule I—the strictest level of regulation withheld for substances with “no currently accepted medical use.” While the United States has maintained this rigid framework, Jamaica has taken the opposite approach. Psilocybin was never listed under Jamaica’s Dangerous Drugs Act, and remains unregulated. In recent decades, research has shown that psilocybin, when administered in controlled settings, can effectively treat depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions. In response, the Jamaican government has not only preserved psilocybin’s legality but has encouraged research and industry …

Constitutional Law On Abortion In Latin America And The Caribbean: A Regional Consensus Towards An International Custom Or A Peremptory Norm Of Jus Cogens?, Ligia Castaldi

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The Inter–American Court of Human Rights recently declared the existence of a jus cogens right to a healthy environment: could it lawfully reach the same conclusion regarding a right to abortion? This paper examines constitutional law and constitutional jurisprudence on abortion in Latin American and Caribbean countries to determine whether a regional consensus exists on abortion rights in the region. The paper looks at landmark abortion decisions favoring abortion rights in Colombia and Mexico, as well as broad abortion decriminalization through statutory reform in Argentina, Uruguay, Haiti and Cuba. The paper also looks at prenatal right to life protections in …

Health Care Civil Rights: Addressing The American Maternal Mortality Disparity Through Health, Law, And Policy, Victoria Pedri

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The United States is facing a pressing issue in maternal health, standing out as uniquely dangerous among similarly situated nations, with significant disparities in maternal mortality rates, particularly affecting Black American pregnant people. This paper, “Health Care Civil Rights: Addressing the American Maternal Mortality Disparity Through Health, Law, and Policy,” argues that by addressing the root cause of the Black Maternal Mortality Disparity (BMMD)—structural racism—and implementing rigorous, enforced standards of care, the United States can ensure safer childbirth experiences for Black pregnant people. Utilizing intersectional and anti-racist frameworks, the analysis identifies inferior medical care, particularly in diagnosing and treating preventable …

The Reasonability Rule For Medical Damages In Tort: In Defense Of Chargemaster Recovery, Avery E. Tunstill

Washington Law Review

In a personal injury suit, Washington law requires the plaintiff to prove that their medical costs are reasonable to recover damages for those costs. Tort reform proponents attempt to use this reasonability rule to limit tort damages awards. They argue that a plaintiff should only recover a portion of a hospital’s bill because most people do not pay a hospital’s sticker price—or the “chargemaster rate”—for medical care. Some reformers argue that recovery rates should instead be based on a set figure. Others argue in favor of eliminating the collateral source rule, which prohibits juries from reducing tort damages awards in …

Shielding Freedoms: State Noncooperation In Hunts For Evidence And People, Mary D. Fan

Washington Law Review

The nation is fracturing into a patchwork of rights and punishment. What some states and localities safeguard as rights, other jurisdictions are criminalizing and punishing. As the divides in rights and punishment deepen, some states are becoming sanctuaries for freedoms penalized elsewhere and enacting shield laws prohibiting cooperation with criminalization and punishment states. A prime example is shield laws protecting people seeking to exercise reproductive rights or obtain gender-affirming care. Major jurisdictions for healthcare and technology-related businesses, such as Washington, California, New York, and Massachusetts, have enacted shield laws that prohibit law enforcement and companies from complying with subpoenas seeking …

Impact In Action: Your Michigan Dental Association Foundation, Anne Berquist

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The Michigan Dental Association (MDA) Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit, works to promote better dental health and support the future dental workforce through educational scholarships. The Foundation’s impact is increasing yearly, evidenced by a 42% increase in scholarship awards in 2024, providing $44,000 to 15 recipients. It also provides grants to statewide organizations delivering dental care to uninsured, impoverished, and underserved populations, awarding $141,500 in 2025. A high-profile program is the biannual Michigan Mission of Mercy (MOM), which provided over $1.1 million in donated care in Flint in 2024. Support is generated through various fundraisers, including the Year-End Fundraising Campaign.

Opioids And Oblivion: Corporate Bankruptcy And The Erosion Of Accountability In Big Pharma, Ying Yuan

Washington Law Review

In June 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma that nonconsensual releases for nondebtors are unconstitutional. The decision marked a key development in mass tort litigation involving Purdue Pharma, the company at the center of the opioid crisis. The Sackler family sought to use Purdue’s bankruptcy proceedings to shield themselves from liability, but the Court’s ruling invalidated the use of nondebtor releases to protect third parties from claims without the full consent of affected parties. While the ruling strengthens creditor protections, it creates uncertainty regarding how mass tort bankruptcies can efficiently compensate victims, particularly in …

Mda At Your Service: A Deaf Person Wants To Become My Patient, Rachel Sinacola Dds, Ms

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The column clarifies that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), dental offices must provide auxiliary aids or services for patients with hearing impairments, which may require a professional interpreter paid for by the dentist in complex visits. Members are encouraged to notify the MDA about practice/life changes (e.g., address changes or caseload shifts) to ensure proper benefits and dues discounts. New associates are strongly urged to utilize the MDA resource for contract review, which offers a 10% discount with Kerr Russell Attorneys. Additionally, the MDA Store provides free Labor Poster Packets, fulfilling state and federal employer requirements.

J Mich Dent Assoc December 2025

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Each month, the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association delivers news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200+ members. It remains the main publication reaching Michigan dentists and is available worldwide through ADA Commons. The December 2025 (Volume 107, No. 11) issue of the Journal is published in a digital-only format to provide updates and insights for Michigan's oral health community and MDA members. Print editions will resume in the new year.

This issue includes feature articles on the Michigan Dental Foundation, A Case for Credentialing Dental Assistants, and a feature …

The Case For Credentialing Dental Assistants, Michelle Godofsky

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Credentialing dental assistants is presented as a method to enhance productivity and address workforce shortages; currently, only about 15% of Michigan dental assistants are Registered Dental Assistants (RDAs). A case study at Thunder Bay Community Health Service, an FQHC in Northern Michigan, illustrates success, where RDAs perform expanded functions—like placing restorations and monitoring nitrous oxide—boosting clinic productivity by 16%. The clinic supports its dental assistants by covering education and exam expenses and providing study time during work hours. This investment improves job satisfaction, confidence, morale, and patient communication among staff, strengthening employee retention.

Parenting While Mad: Altered States, Carceral Psychiatry, And The Fight For Abolitionist Access, Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu

Journal of Law and Policy

Legal and psychiatric systems respond to parents in distress-oriented altered states (often labeled “postpartum psychosis”) in ways that reveal deep structural failures. Rather than providing genuine care, these states are criminalized, pathologized, and met with coercive treatment, family separation, and surveillance. Drawing on Silvia Federici’s Caliban and the Witch, this article traces these systems to the rise of colonial-capitalist-patriarchy, when land was enclosed, reproductive labor weaponized, and community healing knowledge expropriated. Clinical mental health and family regulation systems continue this legacy today, punishing Madness, disempowering caregivers, and undermining community capacity to respond to distress. The author examines cases of postpartum …

Dentistry And The Law: Miscellaneous Questions About Dental Records, Daniel Schulte Jd

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This column addresses the legal requirements surrounding dental records. Dentists must furnish copies of records to patients or those acting on their behalf (with signed consent), but the original records should always be retained by the treating dentist. Patient information regarding care and treatment is confidential and privileged; disclosure requires written patient consent unless specific legal exceptions apply, such as court orders, defense of a claim, or HIPAA compliance for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. Dentists must also obtain a signed release from the patient (or guardian for minors) before displaying "before and after" photos for commercial use to avoid …

Mda Insurance: Offer Group Health Insurance To Entice Recruits, Retain Valuable Staff, Craig Start

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Amidst a competitive labor market, offering group health insurance is critical for attracting and retaining qualified dental staff, as it is the most highly valued employee benefit. Dentists can establish an employment policy stipulating cost-sharing for premiums, rather than paying the entire cost. The MDA strongly encourages investigating the exclusive MDA Health Plan, which offers 11 distinct plan designs powered by Priority Health. For 2026, the MDA Health Plan is increasing rates by only 4%, significantly lower than commercial group plans requesting double-digit increases (10% to 18%). Plans can be started at any time during the year, requiring about 30 …

From Medical Exceptions To Reproductive Freedom, David S. Cohen, Greer Donley

Michigan Law Review

Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, there has been a significant focus on pregnancy complications. This focus has created some risks. Highlighting medically indicated abortion stories could stigmatize the vast majority of abortion seekers who lack medical reasons for abortion and result in narrow remedies that do nothing to undermine abortion bans. This Article presents a way to convert these risks into an opportunity: to use pregnancy complications as a wedge to challenge abortion bans more generally and make abortion more accessible for everyone. We present a long-term strategy to dismantle abortion bans, using several legal …

An Essay On Trailblazing With Service Animals Langer, Pilot, Bowie, And Izzie: Preserving Non-Partisan Public Health And The Law, Gary C. Norman

Journal of Law and Health

A direct correlation exists among humans, their animals, and human health and wellness. This article will focus concisely on law students with disabilities and lawyers with disabilities and how they can be empowered to be trailblazers while remaining healthy and well. Salutogenic Model should be optimized by lawyers with disabilities working at the intersection of animal law, disability law, and public health law. Service animals have positive and salubrious impacts upon their handlers in several ways, including psychosocial health and wellbeing. The Grand Architect (or in my Cherokee tradition, "great spirit") continuously partners me with complicated but magnificent dog partners …

Addressing Health-Related Social Needs With Innovative Healthcare Spending, Kelly Naranjo Ms Ccrc, Eric Rochman Mph, Allyson Schiff Ba, Dorella Walters Mpa, Andrea Zaldivar Ed.D, Ms, Anp

Journal of Law and Health

Key objectives: To address the social determinants of health domains "social and community context" and "neighborhood and built environment" via Medically Tailored Meals, a nutrition intervention that includes home delivery, medical nutrition therapy and education, and frozen medically tailored meals provided by the non-profit partner. This intervention targeted Medicaid members exhibiting high healthcare utilization in conjunction with each individual's risk of developing higher morbidity and mortality of existing disease due to co-existing food and nutrition insecurity. The populations served include people living with Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and End-Stage Renal Disease, among other conditions, whose burden …

Access To Healthcare For Irregular Migrants, Jessica Dykes

Journal of Law and Health

Access to Healthcare for Irregular Migrants is an assessment of the right to life, security of the person, and non-discrimination as viewed through the lens of Nell Toussaint's legal battle. It tells the compelling story of an irregular migrant's battle for access to health care. Highlighting a gap in the Canadian healthcare system, this piece raises valuable questions about why that gap exists. Toussaint's experiences with multiple levels of the legal system, both in Canada and internationally, are included. It tells the story from when Ms. Toussaint entered Canada to the present; wherein the matter remains before the court.

This …