viernes, 18 de enero de 2013

January 2013 issue of the Public Health Law News

Public Health Law Banner
Thursday, January 17, 2013

January 2013 issue of the Public Health Law News

Each issue features legal news relating to public health, and includes announcements; top national, state, and local stories; state and federal court opinions; and interviews.

Statue of lady justice

Profiles in Public Health Law

Interview with Lindsay F. Wiley and Matthew Pierce of the Health Law and Justice Program at American University Washington College of Law


Legal Tools

  1. Sodium reduction tools
  2. Ethics training manuals

Top Stories

  1. National: Iris implants not approved by the FDA
  2. National: Proposed food contamination rules
Statue of Lady Justice

Public Health Law News Banner 

January 2013—CDC Public Health Law News

Thursday, January 17, 2013
From the Public Health Law Program,
Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Announcements

  1. Journal article on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. The Public Health Law Program is proud to announce the publication of State Adolescent Consent Laws and Implications for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, in the January 2013 edition of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. The article was co-authored by Lindsay Culp, J.D., M.P.H., and Lisa Caucci, J.D., M.A., of the CDC's Public Health Law Program. Recent large clinical trials have found that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduced HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM), but efforts to provide clinical care to minors, including young MSM, may be complicated by a lack of clarity regarding parental consent requirements with respect to medical services. The article analyzes laws related to minors' ability to consent to medical care, including HIV diagnostic testing and treatment, and their implications for the PrEP. Find more information and read the articleExternal Web Site Icon. 
  2. National Health Policy Conference. The 13th annual National Health Policy Conference (NHPC) will be held in Washington, D.C. at the Grand Hyatt Washington, February 4–5, 2013. NHPC is the nation's first comprehensive look at the year ahead in health policy, providing an insider's perspective on the nation's health policy agenda. This conference brings together senior health care decision makers, drawing more than 800 leaders from academia, government, foundations, hospitals, and the health care industry. Registration ends January 28, 2013. Find more information and register for the conference.External Web Site Icon 
  3. Injury prevention webinars. The Network for Public Health LawExternal Web Site Icon has partnered with the Children's Safety Network to produce a new webinar series exploring injury prevention through policies. The next webinar, Implementation of State Youth Concussion Laws: Perspectives from the Frontlines, will take place on January 24, 2013, 2:30–4 pm (EST). This webinar will provide an update on states' youth concussion laws, as well as preliminary results from an interview survey with state officials and organizational leaders charged with implementation of these laws in their own states. Three presenters with different organizational perspectives will share their experiences in implementing the laws in their states. Presenters include Kerri McGowan Lowrey, J.D., M.P.H, Deputy Director, The Network for Public Health Law—Eastern Region, University of Maryland Francis Carey School of Law; Carlene Pavlos, M.T.S., Director, Division of Violence and Injury Prevention, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; and Gary Matthews, Executive Director, Alaska School Activities Association. The session moderator is Cindy Rodgers, M.S.P.H., Project Specialist, Children's Safety Network. Find more information and register for the webinarExternal Web Site Icon. 
  4. Underage drinking prevention webinar. The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage DrinkingExternal Web Site Icon (ICCPUD) is hosting a webinar series, Preventing Underage Drinking, this month. The first presentation is on January 30, 2013, from 2–3 pm (EST). This first webinar in the series will provide an overview of the issue and of the series. It will begin with introductions from Dr. Benjamin, Surgeon General of the United States, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and ICCPUD Chair, Administrator Hyde. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Acting Director Warren will then provide an overview of the nature and extent of the problem, and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Director Harding will discuss the "shape of the solution." Following their presentations, Director Harding and Acting Director Warren will engage with participants in a live question-and-answer period. Find more information and register for the webinarExternal Web Site Icon. 
  5. Affordable Care Act implementation webinar. On January 17 at 1–2 pm (EST) the American Society of Law, Medicine and EthicsExternal Web Site Icon (ASLME) is hosting Effects of the Election on Future Implementation of the ACA. The webinar includes features three presenters, Dr. Susan Polan, Eli Briggs and Jina Dhillon. Ms. Dhillon will provide a detailed look at what the Supreme Court decision did and did not do, and describe ongoing lawsuits challenging it. Dr. Polan will provide a broad overview of what the election means for the ACA at the federal level and describe some of the ACA's initiatives that impact public health. Ms. Briggs will provide a more "on the ground" look at how the ACA is being implemented at the state and local level, as well as suggestions for actions health departments can take in light of its passage and the current political environment. The webinar will be archived and posted online after the event. Find more information and access the archived webinarExternal Web Site Icon. 
  6. O'Neill Institute accepting Law Fellow applications. The O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health LawExternal Web Site Icon, which is housed at Georgetown University Law Center, is seeking exceptionally qualified candidates to serve as O'Neill Institute Law Fellows. Fellowship terms are one year, with possible extension to two years, and will begin autumn 2013. Fellows receive an annual salary of $65,000 with outstanding benefits. Candidates must have a J.D. Applications must include: CV, cover letter, writing sample, professional references, official law school transcripts, and other graduate school transcripts (if applicable). The application deadline is Friday, February 22, 2013. Any questions about the position should be directed to oneilinstitute@law.georgetown.edu. Find more information about the fellowshipExternal Web Site Icon.
  7. Funding opportunity with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Public Health Law Research Program (PHLR). PHLRExternal Web Site Icon invites current Ph.D. students in accredited doctoral degree programs to apply. Dissertation Grants will be awarded for up to $20,000 each for twelve months maximum. These grants apply to 1) qualitative or quantitative studies of the health effects of specific laws or regulations and/or related underlying mechanisms of effect and 2) mapping studies—empirical legal research that creates a multi-jurisdictional data set of laws suitable for quantitative research. Mapping studies require the integration of legal analysis and public health research to ensure that the important dimensions of the relevant laws are accurately and comprehensively measured. Beyond the monetary support provided by the awards, the program offers awardees the opportunity to share research progress and network at the PHLR 2014 Annual Meeting. Travel support for the PHLR Annual Meeting is covered by the National Program Office and should not be included in the application budget. Up to $100,000 will be available under this program. Deadline for proposals is February 15, 2013. Find more information and read the call for proposals Adobe PDF file [PDF - 163KBExternal Web Site Icon.

Legal Tools

  1. Sodium reduction tools. To support Americans' New Year's health and nutrition goals and in advance of American Heart Month, the Public Health Law Program (PHLP) has released a series of legal resources on dietary sodium reduction. According to CDC, excess dietary sodium raises the risk for high blood pressure and its cardiovascular health consequences, including heart disease and stroke, the first and fourth leading causes of death in the United States. As part of a longstanding collaboration with the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention in CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, PHLP highlights six legal resources and six policy toolkits for practitioners seeking to reduce dietary sodium in discrete populations. Access the policy resources and toolkits.
  2. Ethics training manuals. As part of CDC's ongoing efforts to support state and local health departments, the Public Health Ethics Unit developed a training manual to strengthen public health ethics capacity at the local level. The manual includes an introduction to public health ethics, relevant case studies, suggestions for integrating ethics into health departments, and additional resources. Find more information and download the Student Manual.

Top Stories

  1. National: Looking for a matchExternal Web Site Icon New York Times   (01/02/2013)   Abby Ellin
    A company called New Color Iris allegedly marketed a device capable of implanting an artificial or prosthetic iris, the colored part of the eye surrounding the pupil, over an individual's natural iris. Such an implant changes the color and overall appearance of the individual's eye. The implants, however, are not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), absent grave medical circumstances. Individuals who reside in the U.S. and leave the U.S. to have the unapproved surgery circumvent the FDA's approval, but often receive negative surgical results.
    Many seek to change their eye color; colored contact lenses made up about 20 percent of the $7.8 billion global contact lens market in 2011, according to a January 2012 report by BCC Market Research. The FDA approves iris implants under the Humanitarian Device Exemption (see section 520(m) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Adobe PDF file [PDF - 166KB]External Web Site Icon), which is only available people with severe conditions, such as aniridia, a rare condition with partial or total iris absence. Those who seek the surgery purely for cosmetic reasons must leave the U.S. to receive the surgery.
    Anita Adams, who had two differently colored irises, also known as heterochromia, traveled to Panama in 2008 to have the surgery. Initially, she was pleased with the surgery, even becoming a spokesperson for New Color Iris, but in 2010 her vision grew "spotty" and she began to fear she was going blind. Repeated attempts to contact New Color Iris were unsuccessful. After being diagnosed with glaucoma and cataracts, her implants were removed in early 2011. "My pupils are kind of oblong instead of round now, and my corneas are scratched, so I can't wear contact lenses," said Adams.
    Dr. Gregory J. Pamel, a corneal and refractive surgeon in Manhattan, New York, and assistant professor of ophthalmology at New York University, reports receiving numerous calls over recent years seeking iris implants. "They'd want to enroll in the clinical trial, and I would say, ‘There's nothing available in the U.S.'"
    Other medical professionals, such as Dr. Kenneth Steinsapir, an oculofacial surgeon and ophthalmologist in Los Angeles, California, have been warning the public about it. Dr. Steinsapir blogged about the problem in 2010, "The colored disk that is put in the eye has been shown to cause harm. If you are not albino and missing iris pigment or have part of the iris missing either from a birth defect or from trauma, then there is no compelling medical reason for this surgery."
  2. National: FDA offers broad new rules to fight food contamination External Web Site IconNew York times   (01/04/2013)   Stephanie Strom
    In recent years food contamination has sickened thousands in the U.S. On January 4, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released two proposed rules that work to implement the Food Safety Modernization ActExternal Web Site Icon, enacted in 2011.
    The first proposed rule focuses on preventative controls for human food by setting safety requirements for facilities that "process, package, or store food for people." The FDA website indicates a separate rule will be promulgated for animal food. The second proposed rule deals with safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables.
    Officials are optimistic that the new rules will be more effective due to their reliance on strong scientific methods. According Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, "These new rules really set the basic framework for a modern, science-based approach to food safety and shift us from a strategy of reacting to problems to a strategy for preventing problems."
    While funding remains a concern, the changes include record-keeping requirements, outbreak contingency plans, and other measures to halt the spread of contaminated food products. The rules are open for public comment for 120 days. Three other proposed rules still await release.
    [Editor's note: Find more information and comment on the proposed food safety rulesExternal Web Site Icon.]

Briefly Noted

  1. Alabama: New laws crack down on uninsured drivers and human trafficking
    New Alabama law targets drivers without insuranceExternal Web Site Icon
    AL.com   (12/25/2012)
  2. Alaska: Law requiring coverage of autism spectrum disorders takes effect
    Autism bill, other measures set to take effectExternal Web Site Icon
    Juneau Empire   (01/01/2013)   Becky Bohrer
  3. California: Registered nurses able to dispense birth control under new law
    Nurses can dispense hormonal birth control in California, but new law draws controversyExternal Web Site Icon
    Huffington Post   (01/05/2013)   Kim Lamb Gregory
  4. Illinois: New law mandates radon testing in daycare centers
    Illinois daycare centers now must test for radonExternal Web Site Icon
    Journal Gazette and Times-Courier   (01/04/2013)
    [Editor's note: Find more information about Illinois's radon awareness activitiesExternal Web Site Icon and read the lawExternal Web Site Icon.]
  5. Maryland: Arsenic banned in chicken feed
    New Md. laws include ban on arsenic in chicken feedExternal Web Site Icon
    Baltimore Sun   (12/29/2012)   Michael Dresser
  6. Massachusetts: Mayor declares influenza emergency, worst flu season since 2009
    700 cases of flu prompt Boston to declare emergencyExternal Web Site Icon
    USA Today   (01/10/2013)   Elizabeth Weise and Melanie Eversley
    [Editor's note: Find more information and read Mayor Menino's declarationExternal Web Site Icon.] 
  7. Vermont: States file with federal court for nuclear waste site re-evaluation
    Vermont, NY seek more review of nuke waste storageExternal Web Site Icon
    Burlington Free Press   (01/03/2013)
  8. National: Schools grapple with allergy policies and allergy-based bullying
    Allergy Bullying: When food is a weaponExternal Web Site Icon
    CNN   (01/05/2013)   Elizabeth Landau
  9. National: Approved anti-diarrheal drug may increase HIV/AIDS therapy compliance
    Company: FDA approved diarrhea drugExternal Web Site Icon
    USA Today   (01/02/2013)
  10. National: Concerns raised about affordability of family coverage
    Employers must offer family care, affordable or notExternal Web Site Icon
    New York Times   (12/31/2012)   Robert Pear
  11. National: Seventeen states and D.C. approved to run health insurance exchanges
    More states cleared to operate health insurance exchangesExternal Web Site Icon
    Los Angeles Times   (01/04/2013)   Noam N. Levey

This Month's Feature Profiles in Public Health Law: Interview with Lindsay F. Wiley and Matthew Pierce of the Health Law and Justice Program at American University Washington College of Law


Lindsay Wiley

Matthew Pierce


CDC Public Health Law News (PHLN): What was your route to the Health Law and Justice Program (HLJP) in terms of education and career choices? 
Wiley: When I made the move onto the law school tenure track, I sought an institution that would be supportive of my efforts to build a health law program and I've found a wonderful home for that work here at American University Washington College of Law. The law school had an existing Health Law and Policy Project, which our program built upon by adding a scholarship and research focus.
Pierce: I was drawn to HLJP largely because of Lindsay's and the law school's commitment to promoting public health, civil liberties, and social justice. I became interested in how these societal goals relate to one another during law school, and my career decisions have all been guided by my desire to explore those relationships and promote these three goals.
My first full-time job out of law school was as a public defender in Baltimore City, an experience that made me sensitive to how laws (even well-intentioned public health laws) can disproportionately burden already marginalized populations. As just one example, seatbelt laws have undoubtedly saved thousands of lives, but in many Baltimore neighborhoods, these laws also provide police a convenient means to circumvent the Fourth Amendment. It does not take long working as a public defender, however, to realize that defending individuals from government overreach (while extremely important) does little to change the underlying factors that cause most people to become entangled in the criminal justice system in the first place.
During my last year as a public defender, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in a pilot program that sought to incorporate some public health principles into public defense by connecting clients to support services and helping them address some of the collateral consequences of their criminal records. I still believe that this is the best model for public defense, but it is still secondary prevention at the individual level, and I was interested in exploring broader level changes. I was, therefore, thrilled to have the opportunity at the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center on a couple projects that examined colleges' and employers' use of criminal histories to screen applicants. This practice, which appears to be growing, has yet to be rigorously evaluated from a public health perspective and has the potential to disproportionately burden populations with higher arrest and conviction rates. Moreover, criminal screening could be harmful to public health because it prevents prior offenders from building alternative career paths to crime.
Although the projects I worked on at UNC have ended, I hope to continue to explore this line of research, and I am grateful that my position at HLJP will allow me to conduct public health law research while helping to build a broader health law program committed to promoting civil liberties and social justice.
PHLN: What initially sparked your interest in public health and, more specifically, public health law?
Wiley: As a law student at Harvard, I came to health law via my initial interest in disability law. I found the questions surrounding the definition of "disability" fascinating and exploring those led me to broader questions about defining illness and health that eventually led me to health law. At that time, there weren't many course offerings available, but through part-time work at the American Society for Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME), I gained exposure to a broad range of cutting edge questions in health law research and scholarship. This was just after September 11, and there was an explosion of public health law scholarship going on. I found it absolutely fascinating. I was editing articles for the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, including truly groundbreaking work by Larry Gostin, Wendy Parmet, Scott Burris, James Hodge, and others whom I am now lucky enough to count as colleagues, mentors, and friends.
Pierce: I don't think there is any single event that sparked my interest in public health or public health law. Certainly, the fact that my father spent most of his career in public health played a part in my decision to pursue an M.P.H., but I think my interest in the field stems mostly from my belief that differences among populations are best explained by social and environmental variation. When we are able to compare two populations and accurately predict that one population will have significantly worse health outcomes, it is, in most cases, evidence of injustice. Working in public health law allows me to think about how to address some of those injustices.
PHLN: Please describe HLJP's projects and activities.
Pierce and Wiley: HLJP serves as a hub for the health law activities at our law school. We help coordinate the health law curriculum, including our LL.M. Health Law SpecializationExternal Web Site Icon and our Health Law & Policy Summer InstituteExternal Web Site Icon—a two-week session in which we offer ten to eleven intensive health law courses on cutting edge topics for practitioners and law students alike. We organize conferences and events on health law topics; we provide academic and career counseling for students interested in health law; and we help support the two student health law groups at the Washington College of Law: the Health Law and Policy Brief, which is the school's biannual health law publication, and the Health Law and Justice Society, which organizes symposia, career panels, and networking events for students interested in health law.
HLJP also conducts public health law research. Lindsay's most recent research has focused primarily on public health legal theory, including the appropriate scope of public health law and responses to allegations of "nanny-statism." She's also working on several projects surrounding the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity and reduction of weight bias as a public health objective. Matt's main current research project involves mapping state prescription monitoring program laws over the past decade and evaluating their effect on overdose deaths from prescription opioids.
PHLN: What do you see as law professors' role in the development of public health law?
Pierce: I think two of the most pressing roles for public health law professors are to 1) articulate a coherent public health legal theory that courts can apply to uphold laws that promote public health and 2) convince more judges to incorporate that theory into their decisions. Professors Gostin and Parmet, among others, have made enormous contributions to step 1, but now I think public health law professors need to be thinking more about step 2.
Wiley: This is an issue we're actively engaged with here at HLJP. We're hosting a meeting this week to bring together public health law professors from across the country for a discussion of our role in creating a legal environment that is more conducive to the protection and promotion of population health.
Several legal doctrines with enormous importance to public health are currently in flux. We see deeply disturbing trends in the First Amendment protection of commercial speech (which put warning and disclosure requirements and other regulations at risk), preemption of local law by state law, and state law by federal law (which limits the authority of government actors with the greatest traditional responsibility for public health), and other areas as well. I'm particularly interested in the efforts of the food and beverage industry to defeat innovative interventions to address obesity-related health threats. They're using tactics straight out of the tobacco industry playbook.
As law professors, we can respond to these trends by helping to reframe the exploding national debate over public health in terms of collective community action to address problems that none of us is able to combat effectively acting alone. We can guide the development of the empirical evidence basis for existing and newly developing public health law interventions. We can innovate to develop legal interventions that more successfully navigate these (ever-changing) legal constraints and new legal arguments that attempt to reverse a trend toward what we view as improper developments in the law. These are all important and valuable functions that law professors are uniquely well positioned to perform, but they are difficult for us to engage in successfully in isolation.
The aim of this week's meeting is to promote greater coordination among us, and among our centers, with an eye toward more effective engagement with courts, legislatures, regulators, practitioners, and others.
PHLN: Please describe your respective job duties and projects within HLJP.
Pierce: As associate director, I'm responsible for many of the day-to-day activities of HLJP. I work with our LL.M. Program on Law and GovernmentExternal Web Site Icon to develop our Health Law Specialization and with our adjunct faculty to develop both regular semester and summer courses. I provide academic and career counseling to J.D. and LL.M. students interested in health law. I help support the law school's two student health law organizations: the Health Law and Policy Brief and the Health Law and Justice Society. I teach as an adjunct during the summer and one of the regular semesters. And I conduct public health law research and seek funding for future research projects.
Wiley: As the faculty director, I work closely with Matt to define and promote our program's strategic vision. I particularly enjoy working to shape the health law curriculum. Health law is such a broad and varied field and student interest in it is growing dramatically in response to exciting job opportunities. My primary role is as a teacher and legal scholar, but I find that my program responsibilities help keep me in touch with the rapidly developing field of health law as a whole and with trends in empirical research and grant funding in public health law in particular.
PHLN: One of HLJP's primary missions is to advance the law field though research and training programs. What type of research and training programs do you offer?
Pierce: I am currently overseeing two research projects at the law school: one is a collaboration with researchers at UNC that involves mapping state prescription monitoring program laws over the past decade and evaluating their effect on overdose deaths from prescription opioids. The other is a collaboration with the Children's Dental Health ProjectExternal Web Site Icon and involves the administration and expansion of the Fluoride Legislative User Information DatabaseExternal Web Site Icon or "FLUID," a web-based database containing historical information on legal cases decided by U.S. courts and current information on federal and state policies regarding community water fluoridation.
The Health Law and Policy Summer Institute and LL.M. Health Law Specialization are our primary media for training professionals. The Summer Institute is a great way for individuals who are considering returning to law school for an LL.M. to get a sense of the types of courses we offer, and all Summer Institute courses can be applied toward an LL.M. Health Law Specialization. The courses are also a wonderful way for health law professionals to stay up-to-date on developments in the law. We also offer conferences and events throughout the year through which professionals can earn CLE credit.
PHLN: What is the Health Law Policy Institute and how does it support HLJP's public health training mission?
Pierce and Wiley: The Health Law and Policy Summer Institute runs for two weeks at the end of each June and offers students and professionals the opportunity to take specialized health law and policy courses for academic or CLE credit. We are fortunate to have a dedicated summer faculty composed of leading health lawyers who blend theory and practice into their curricula so that participants gain an understanding of the high-level policy debates and of the concrete legal rules that have come out of those debates. We also organize several lunchtime events over the two weeks to give participants the chance to network outside of the classroom and to attend panel discussions on recent health law developments.
This summer we plan to offer eleven courses on a variety of topics, including public health litigation, health insurance exchanges, and global health and human rights. We are also introducing two new course "clusters": one will focus on health care fraud and abuse, and the other on legal regulation of the development and marketing of pharmaceuticals. The goal of these clusters is to allow participants to dig more deeply into these two rapidly developing areas of health law.
Each course will run for two full days or four evenings. Participants can choose to take just one course or to take courses throughout the full two weeks.
PHLN: What upcoming HLJP projects and events do you find particularly exciting?
Wiley: We're currently developing new research projects in areas relating to food labeling and obesity and we're very excited to get those off the ground over the next several months.
PHLN: Considering both domestic and global public health law arenas, what essential public health law challenges and changes do you anticipate in the coming year?
Pierce: Two public health law story lines that I will be watching closely this year are the response of gun control advocates to the series of mass shootings that occurred in 2012 and the response of the FDA to the D.C. Circuit's decision to invalidate its proposed graphic warning labels for cigarettes. I will be interested to see whether gun control advocates have enough momentum to make changes in gun laws . . . As a legal matter, I will be interested to see whether the D.C. Circuit's decision to invalidate the FDA's graphic warning labels is successfully challenged.
Wiley: The graphic warning decision in particular has enormous ramifications for a wide range of public health issues, In addition to the issues Matt mentioned, I'm going to be watching the implementation of the New York City portion rule for sugary drinks. It's an innovative—and woefully misrepresented—intervention that I think shows significant promise. I see it as conceptually related to the ban on the inclusion of toys or other incentive items targeted at kids in meals that fail to meet minimal nutritional standards. These kinds of changes to the food environment make healthier options (like smaller soda portions or apple slices instead of fries in meals heavily marketed to preschoolers) the default. They require people to affirmatively "opt in" if they want to make less healthy choices (by buying two cups, or by paying an extra fee for the toy).
PHLN: How can professionals as well as lay people learn more about HLJP and become more involved with public health law?
Pierce: Anyone interested in health law can learn more about our program, our Summer Institute, or our LL.M. Health law specialization by going to our website (http://www.wcl.american.edu/health/index.cfmExternal Web Site Icon) or by contacting us directly.
PHLN: If you were not working in public health law, what would you likely be doing?
Pierce: There is a part of me that misses working as a public defender and that, at the very least, wishes I had spent a few additional years developing my criminal defense skills before turning to public health research, so perhaps I would give that career another shot. I've also always thought it would be nice to be a dog walker. 
Wiley: I don't know that it's "likely," but my alternative dream job would be to be a snarky TV recapper for Television Without Pity or maybe a film editor.
PHLN: Please describe any personal information, hobbies, or interests you care to share.
Wiley: We both have young children—Matt's a new dad and I have three kids. So we don't really have hobbies or interests at the moment. We're really quite boring, but happy.
PHLN: Have you read any good books lately?
Pierce: I'm proud to say that I was able to make it through Donald Crews's Freight Train in one sitting, despite the best efforts of my six-month old to eat most of the pages. Of less interest to my son, but of more interest to me, I've finally been reading Wendy Parmet's Populations, Public Health, and the Law, and I can't recommend it enough for anyone who is interested in public health law.
Wiley: I'm learning a lot from Benn McGrady's wonderful book, Trade and Public Health: The WTO, Tobacco, Alcohol, and Diet.
PHLN: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Wiley: Perhaps there would be, but it's 5:00 and I'm going to have to run to go pick up the kids!

Court Opinions

  1. Kentucky: Board of health has authority to promulgate smoking regulation
    Bullitt County Board of Health v. Bullitt County Adobe PDF file [PDF - 163KB]External Web Site Icon
    Court of Appeals of Kentucky
    Case No. 2011-CA-001798-MR
    Filed 12/07/2012
    Opinion by Judge Lawrence B. VanMeter
  2. Minnesota: Reduction in pay for personal care attendants violates state constitution
    Healthstar Home Health, Inc. v. Lucinda Jesson, in her official capacity as Commissioner of Human ServicesExternal Web Site Icon
    Court of Appeals of Minnesota
    Case No. A12-0591
    Filed 12/17/2012
    Opinion by Judge Terry J. Stoneburner
  3. Montana: City's degree of misconduct to be determined in park injury case
    Gatlin-Johnson v. City of Miles CityExternal Web Site Icon
    Supreme Court of Montana
    Case No. DA 12-0129
    Filed 12/21/2012
    Opinion by Chief Justice Mike McGrath
  4. Nevada: Court finds statute meant to provide health districts with dedicated funding
    Clark County v. Southern Nevada Health DistrictExternal Web Site Icon
    Supreme Court of Nevada
    Case No. 59213
    Filed 12/06/2012
    Opinion by Justice Michael Douglas
  5. Federal: ACA does not violate substantive due process rights
    Coons v. GeithnerExternal Web Site Icon
    United States District Court for the District of Arizona
    Case No. CV-10-1714-PHX-GMS
    Filed 12/19/2012
    Opinion by Judge G. Murray Snow
  6. Federal: Grocery gift cards could violate Federal anti-kickback statute
    Re: OIG Advisory Opinion No 12-21 Adobe PDF file [PDF - 127KB]External Web Site Icon
    Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
    Posted 01/03/2013
    Advisory opinion by Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, Gregory E. Demske
    [Editor's note: Find more information about the Social Security ActExternal Web Site Icon and the federal anti-kickback statuteExternal Web Site Icon.]

Quotation of the Month: Anita Adams, iris implant patient.

"If there's no FDA approval, there's a reason. I'm grateful I didn't lose my vision," said Anita Adams of her iris implantation surgery, a surgery which was performed in Panama.

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