Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Canadian Personal Data Protection Legislation And Electronic Health Records: Transfers Of Personal Health Information In It Outsourcing Agreements, Dara Lambie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Personal data protection and privacy of personal health information in the electronic era is a broad topic that includes consent, security measures and access considerations. The focus of this article is on one component of the larger picture: data transfers of personal health information that occur in the context of informa- tion technology (“IT”) outsourcing. If the societal good envisioned by an inter-jurisdictional EHR is to be fully realized, then the necessity of outsourcing is a reality that must be addressed.

What Are We-Laborers, Factories, Or Spare Parts? The Tax Treatment Of Transfers Of Human Body Materials, Lisa Milot

Washington and Lee Law Review

Transfers of human body materials are ubiquitous. From surrogacy arrangements, to sales of eggs, sperm and plasma to clinics, to black markets for kidneys, to pleas for donations of body materials, these transfers are covered and debated daily in popular and academic discourse. The associated philosophical and legal issues have been explored by a wide range of commentators. The appropriate tax treatment of these transactions, however, is mostly unexamined. Current Law is unclear about what the tax consequences of these transfers are. There are no statutory provisions directly on point, Internal Revenue Service guidance is outdated and conflicting, and the …

State Constitutionalism And The Right To Health Care, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard

Scholarly Works

This Article examines state constitutions and health care rights. Notably, close to a third of states’ constitutions recognize health while the U.S. Constitution contains no reference. Ample scholarly commentary exists on the absence of a right to health care under the U.S. Constitution but little attention has been paid to state constitutional law. This Article begins by explaining the absence of a federal right and the rationale for looking to state constitutional protections for health. The Article then provides a comprehensive survey of state constitutional provisions and judicial decisions enforcing or interpreting them. The survey reveals certain common themes and …

Juvenile Justice, Sullivan, And Graham: How The Supreme Court’S Decision Will Change The Neuroscience Debate, Johanna Cooper Jennings

Duke Law & Technology Review

Over the past twenty years, neuroscientists have discovered that brain maturation continues through an individual’s mid-twenties. The United States Supreme Court cited this research to support its abolition of the juvenile death penalty in Roper v. Simmons. Now the Court is faced with two cases that challenge the constitutionality of sentencing juveniles to life imprisonment without parole. Many believe these studies indicate that juveniles are both less culpable for their actions and more likely to reform; therefore, life in prison for juveniles is disproportionate, cruel, and unusual. However, others caution against the use of these studies in deciding issues of …

Physician Assessment: Measuring Competence And Performance, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Big Tobacco, Medicaid-Covered Smokers, And The Substance Of The Master Settlement Agreement, Gregory W. Traylor

Vanderbilt Law Review

In 1994, executives from "Big Tobacco"-industry leaders Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown and Williamson Tobacco, and Lorillard-appeared before Congress and denied that nicotine is addictive despite internal documents disclosing a long history of industry-wide awareness about the addictive nature of the drug. One executive even denied that smoking causes death despite the well- established scientific consensus to the contrary. Worse still, tobacco companies had consciously targeted children as young as fourteen-years-old in their advertising schemes. In an internal R.J. Reynolds memorandum to Vice President of Marketing C.A. Tucker, J.F. Hind wrote: "To ensure increased and longer-term growth for CAMEL FILTER, …

Crisis On Campus: Student Access To Health Care, Bryan A. Liang

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

College-aged adults are an overrepresented group in the uninsured population of the United States, and traditionally underserved minorities are disproportionately affected. Students with private health insurance are often functionally uninsured as well, since most schools refuse to accept this traditionally elite calling card on campus. Consequently, the large uninsured and functionally uninsured populations often rely on school-sponsored health insurance plans for access to care. These plans have uneven coverage, limited benefits, exclusions and high co-pays and deductibles, and provide little health care security for their beneficiaries. Further, schools and insurance companies have profited substantially from these student plans, raising the …

The Attack On Nonprofit Status: A Charitable Assessment, James R. Hines Jr., Jill R. Horwitz, Austin Nichols

Law & Economics Working Papers

American nonprofit organizations receive favorable tax treatment, including tax exemptions and tax-deductibility of contributions, in return for their devotion to charitable purposes and restrictions not to distribute profits. Recent efforts to extend some or all of these tax benefits to for-profit companies making social investments, including the creation of the new hybrid nonprofit/for-profit company form known as the Low-Profit Limited Liability Company, threaten to undermine the vitality of the nonprofit sector and the integrity of the tax system.

Reform advocates maintain that the ability to compensate executives based on performance and to distribute profits when attractive investment opportunities are scarce …

Paging Dr. Google: Personal Health Records And Patient Privacy, Colin P. Mccarthy

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Information And Incentives: Improving The Health Of New York City's Low-Income Population, Kathryn Linehan, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

The National Health Policy Forum sponsored a site visit to New York City (NYC) in April 2010 to explore health care delivery for Medicaid beneficiaries and the uninsured in New York City’s hospital-dominated market. New York offers real-time examples of government policy and provider initiatives in health information technology (IT) and quality improvement being played out on a large, complex, and dynamic stage with multiple stakeholders. Site visit participants heard from providers and others who discussed efforts to improve the quality of care for low-income New Yorkers through a variety of methods, such as the adoption and use of electronic …

Law & Health Care Newsletter, V. 17, No. 2, Spring 2010

Law & Health Care Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Health Law Outlook - Volume 3, Issue 2 (Spring 2010)

Health Law Outlook (archive)

Inside this issue:

• Reforming New Jersey's Vaccination Exemption Policy: The Conscientious Exemption Bill, Michael Poreda
• Value-Based Insurance Design: One Non-Legislative Health Reform Option, Kate Freed
• The Rigorous Requisites to Compassionate Use in New Jersey: The Highs (and Lows) of Legalizing Medical Marijuana, Nicole Hamberger
• So Close and Yet So Far: The Debate Over Legalization of Medical Marijuana, Stephanie Mazzaro
• Accountable Care Organizations: A New Thing With Some Old Problems, Professor Thomas L. Greaney
• Electronic Cigarettes: A Tobacco Product or a Drug-Device Combination, Mat McKennan
• "He Who Has Health Has Hope, and He Who Has …

Food Allergies In Public Schools: Toward A Model Code, Michael Borella

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Sufferers of food allergies can experience anaphylactic shock, and even death, within minutes of exposure to allergens such as peanuts, soy, wheat, eggs, milk, and fish. This causes unique problems when the food allergy sufferers are children in public schools. The widespread availability of these allergens in school lunchrooms and classrooms places children with food allergies in danger while they are entrusted to the government's care. Since these children, especially young children, cannot be relied upon to be able to avoid allergens on their own, reasonable and logical laws should be in place to ensure that children are safe while …

At&T V. Hulteen: The Ghost Of The Supreme Court On Pregnancy Discrimination And Pay Equality For Women’S Pension Benefits In America, Walakewon Blegay

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

Historically, discrimination against women concerning childbirth and pregnancy was legally sanctioned and resulted in fewer advantages for women in the workforce. Most employers discharged a woman as soon as she became noticeably pregnant, and if she returned, she was considered a new, rather than a returning employee. Before 1978, many employers would give female employees a maximum of thirty days of credited pregnancy-related disability leave, while non-pregnant employees would receive unlimited credit for disability leave. In 1978, Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), requiring that employers treat pregnant employees the same as employees who were not pregnant.

These laws …

Money, Meet Mouth: The Era Of Regulation And Prescription Drug Importation/Reimportation, Aaron Wong

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

The author explores why our country has failed to devote the necessary resources to health care, and in particular prescription drug importation and reimportation, in an economic and legal context. He analyzes the unique market characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry, the framework of pharmaceutical drug regulation including prescription drug importation, and the regulatory structure of importation in general. Part II provides background on the health care industry and prescription drug markets in the U.S. and abroad. Part III examines legislative proposals for drug importation and reimportation and the controversial congressional reaction to rising prescription drug prices in the U.S. Part …

Regulating Secondhand Tobacco Smoke In The Americas: A Comparison Of The Top Down And Bottom Up Approaches In Brazil And The United States, Leigh Warren

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

The author presents a comparative analysis of the legal approaches to regulate Second Hand Smoke (SHS) in Brazil and the United States. Part II reviews the FCTC, its objective to achieve smoke-free public places, and the legal framework supporting freedom from SHS as a human right. Parts III and IV examine Brazil’s top down and the United States’ bottom up approaches to regulating SHS through legislative and judicial measures. Part V presents a comparative analysis of the two approaches and offers recommendations based on lessons learned from each approach. Because neither approach is perfect, Part V also discusses the role …

It Is Not Too Late For The Health Savings Account, Jessica A. Bejerea

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The Health Savings Account (HSA), a tax-advantaged savings vehicle for paying medical expenses, paired with the high deductible health plan, has become a popular means of controlling health care costs and insurance premiums. Recently Congress attempted to increase the attractiveness of the HSA and the high deductible health plan when it amended HSA law in 2006. This note examines these recent changes and argues that certain provisions of the amendments, along with IRS guidance, have instead complicated the rules for HSAs and have neglected to resolve at least one important issue.

Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty

Law Student Publications

The present state of the law regarding medical rights for same-sex couples and their families is highly inconsistent. A handful of states permit same-sex marriage. Another handful of states recognize same-sex marriages from other states, allow civil unions with state-level spousal rights for same-sex couples, or extend some or nearly all state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples in domestic partnerships. With these widely disparate levels of recognition, it becomes difficult for same-sex couples to navigate their options and rights when a loved one—a partner or child—has a medical emergency or is in the hospital. In Part II, this Comment will …

Legal Preparedness For Pandemic Influenza: Is Virginia Ready?, Kristen Digirolamo

Law Student Publications

This paper attempts to identify the legal issues at stake during a pandemic and how those issues need to be discussed as a whole when preparing. Part II of this paper will give a brief description of pandemic influenza and look at the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Part III will examine the origins of legal authority during a pandemic at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Part IV will look at some of the specific legal issues that may arise during a pandemic and discuss what decision-makers need to be thinking about in order to plan comprehensively. …

Not So Hip?: The Expanded Burdens On And Consequences To Law Firms As Business Associates Under Hitech Modifications To Hipaa, Benjamin K. Hoover

Law Student Publications

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) governs the management of protected health information (“PHI”) by covered entities (e.g., health care providers) and their business associates. However, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), contained within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, drastically alters the scope of HIPAA regulations with regard to business associates, including law firms that routinely handle the PHI governed by HIPAA. Under the HITECH Act, the definition of “business associate” is expanded, and these entities are treated as “covered” for purposes of the HIPAA security regulations; this …