Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Not-For-Profit Hospitals And Managed Care Organizations: Why The 501c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status Should Be Revised, Andrew C. Papa

DePaul Journal of Health Care Law

Healthcare organizations abuse the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status—reaping tax benefits but failing to give back to their local communities in return. Congress created the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to benefit the poor and impoverished. Yet, not-for-profit hospitals and managed care organizations are neither required to offer services to the poor nor required to offer emergency care services to their local communities. Instead, they charge higher prices in their increasingly concentrated markets. Therefore, consumers subsidize the same not-for-profit healthcare systems that charge them higher prices.

This Article analyzes government-placed incentives under the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, demonstrating how not-for-profit hospitals unfairly compete with for-profit …

Ethics Of Familial Genetic Genealogy: Solving Crimes At The Cost Of Privacy, Craig M. Klugman, Hector F. Rodriguez

DePaul Journal of Health Care Law

No abstract provided.

Trade War, Ppe, And Race, Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Tariffs on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face masks and gloves, weaken the American response to COVID. The United States has exacerbated PPE shortages with Section 301 tariffs on these goods, part of a trade war with China. This has a disparate impact felt by minority communities because of a series of health inequity harms. COVID’s racial disparity appears in virus exposure, virus susceptibility, and COVID treatments. This Article makes legal, policy, and race-and-health arguments. Congress has delegated to the United States Trade Representative expansive authority to increase tariffs. This has made PPE supplies casualties of the trade war. …

Pandemic Emotions: The Good, The Bad, And The Unconscious —Implications For Public Health, Financial Economics, Law, And Leadership, Peter H. Huang

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Pandemics lead to emotions that can be good, bad, and unconscious. This Article offers an interdisciplinary analysis of how emotions during pandemics affect people’s responses to pandemics, public health, financial economics, law, and leadership. Pandemics are heart-breaking health crises. Crises produce emotions that impact decision-making. This Article analyzes how fear and anger over COVID-19 fueled anti-Asian and anti-Asian American hatred and racism. COVID-19 caused massive tragic economic, emotional, mental, physical, and psychological suffering. These difficulties are interconnected and lead to vicious cycles. Fear distorts people’s decision readiness, deliberation, information acquisition, risk perception, and thinking. Distortions affect people’s financial, health, and …

Pandemic, Politics, Public Health , And The Fda, Jordan Paradise, Becky Bavlsik

Belmont Law Review

No abstract provided.

Periods For Profit And The Rise Of Menstrual Surveillance, Michele E. Gilman

All Faculty Scholarship

Menstruation is being monetized and surveilled, with the voluntary participation of millions of women. Thousands of downloadable apps promise to help women monitor their periods and manage their fertility. These apps are part of the broader, multi-billion dollar, Femtech industry, which sells technology to help women understand and improve their health. Femtech is marketed with the language of female autonomy and feminist empowerment. Despite this rhetoric, Femtech is part of a broader business strategy of data extraction, in which companies are extracting people’s personal data for profit, typically without their knowledge or meaningful consent. Femtech can oppress menstruators in several …

Digital Health Passes In The Age Of Covid-19: Are “Vaccine Passports” Lawful And Ethical?, Lawrence O. Gostin, I. Glenn Cohen, Jana Shaw

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As COVID-19 vaccination rates in high-income countries increase, governments are proposing or implementing digital health passes (DHPs) (vaccine “passports” or “certificates”). Israel uses a “green pass” smartphone application permitting vaccinated individuals’ access to public venues (eg, gyms, hotels, entertainment). The European Union plans a “Digital Green Certificate” enabling free travel within the bloc (see eTable in the Supplement). New York is piloting an IBM “Excelsior Pass,” confirming vaccination or negative SARS-CoV-2 test status through confidential data transfers to fast-track business reopenings. This paper examines the benefits of DHPs, scientific challenges, and whether they are lawful and ethical.

End Of Life Uncertainty: Terminal Illness, Medicare Hospice Reimbursement, And The "Falsity" Of Physicians' Clinical Judgments, Jameson Steffel

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Free Trade Agreements On Pharmaceutical Market Competition: The Case Of The 2009 Us-Peru Free Trade Agreement And Its Implementation As National Drug Policy, Lita Araujo, Enrique Seoane-Vazquez, Michael Montagne

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Free Trade Agreements (FTA) are controversial for threatening essential aspects of health, especially access to affordable medicines. The US-Peru FTA required changes in the Peruvian pharmaceutical legislation that resulted in the implementation of the National Drug Policy (NDP) of 2009. The NDP included more robust technical requirements for registration, a Peruvian Good Manufacturing Practices certificate, a longer timeline for drug registration, and an increase in registration fees. This study evaluated the impact of the FTA on the number of registrations and competition in the Peruvian pharmaceutical market.

Data for the period January 2005 to April 2014 were provided by the …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Spring 2021

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

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 …

Abortion Delayed Is Abortion Denied: Why The Hyde Amendment's Rescission Of Federal Funding For Medically Necessary Abortions Harms Low-Income Women, Aliza Shatzman

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions except in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest, violates the constitutional rights established by Roe v. Wade. It contends that the amendment disproportionately harms low-income women by denying them access to medically necessary abortions, thereby undermining their health and autonomy. The author asserts that the Hyde Amendment conflicts with the "reliance interest" doctrine outlined in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, where women have come to depend on the availability of abortion services.

Us Vs. Wales: Comparing And Improving Refugee Health Policy, Payton Ramsey

Senior Theses

Inadequate strides have been made to bolster the short and long-term health of growing numbers of refugees awaiting resettlement. The United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as many countries of resettlement, guarantee the right to health as signatories of the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, but in many situations refugee accessibility to healthcare and health resources is limited by time restrictions on benefits, immigration status, and/or financial circumstances.

This thesis provides a synopsis of the historical roots of current policies and legislative frameworks relating to refugee health for Wales and the US. Through the analysis of governmental policy …

Covid-19 As An Example Of Why Genomic Sequence Data Should Remain Patent Ineligible, Jorge L. Contreras

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The researchers who determined the genomic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus did not seek to patent it, but instead released it in the publicly-accessible GenBank data repository. Their release of this critical data enabled the scientific community to mobilize rapidly and conduct research on a range of diagnostic, vaccine, and therapeutic applications based on the viral RNA sequence. Had the researchers sought patent protection for their discovery, as earlier research teams had during the SARS, H1N1 and H5N1 outbreaks, global research relating to COVID-19 would have been less efficient and more costly. One of the reasons that patents are no …

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 …

Beyond The Pandemic: Historical Infrastructure, Funding, And Data Access Challenges In Indian Country, Heather Tanana, Aila Hoss

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted Tribal communities, in part, due to the historical inequities that Tribes have faced for centuries. As sovereign nations, Tribes have the authority to self-govern their people and land. However, the federal government has a special trust responsibility and treaty obligations to Tribes that it often has failed to fulfill. As a result, many Tribal communities live in inferior living conditions as compared to their non-Native counterparts. This Chapter builds on the prior report to explore the historical inequities Tribes experience and how they have been compounded by the pandemic. More specifically, it identifies persistent …

Weathering The Pandemic: Dying Old At A Young Age From Pre-Existing Racist Conditions, Arline T. Geronimus

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Mainstream social epidemiology now acknowledges the contributions of interpersonal racism, racialized stress, and implicit bias to population health inequity. It also increasingly recognizes that current and historical racist policies place barriers in the way of healthy lifestyles by institutionalizing food deserts, housing decay, and austerity urbanism. Essential as these developments are, they only skim the surface of how insidiously structural racism establishes and reproduces population health inequity. I coined the term “weathering” to describe the effects of sustained cultural oppression upon the body. Weathering expands on the more conventional “social determinants of health” approach to understand the contextually fluctuating and …