bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Providing Subsidies and Incentives for Norplant, Sterilization and other Contraception: Allowing Economic Theory to Inform Ethical Analysis
Authors: Mauldon Jane Gilbert 
Published: January 2007

Policymakers use financial incentives to achieve a wide variety of public objectives, from pollution reduction to the employment of welfare recipients. Combining insights from economic theory with lessons learned from actual implementation, this article analyzes the implications of two such policies: first, subsidizing contraception, and second, offering financial incentives to individuals for sterilization or for using a long-term, semipermanent method of contraception such as the Intra-Uterine Device (IUD), Depo-Provera or Norplant. These subsidy and incentive policies achieve their goals through a myriad of individuals who make their reproductive choices in response to particular costs and benefits. Such programs are ethically and politically controversial. In this paper, I address the question of whether they can be justified either economically or ethically.The first section of this article presents an economic theory to assess whether a subsidy, tax, or incentive is economically efficient, both generally and in the context of contraception.
Research-Related Injury: Problems and Solutions
Authors: Scott Larry D. 
Published: January 2007

The highly publicized deaths of research participants Ellen Roche and Jesse Gelsinger are stark reminders that risk is inherent in medical research and while untoward outcomes are infrequent when compared to individual and societal benefits, injury and even death will happen. Who is responsible for the welfare of research subjects and what are they owed? Why were they put at risk to begin with? Are obligations, if any, to research subjects dependent on the type of study in which they participate, in recognition that there may be personal benefit from participation in some studies?The issue of injury resulting from participation in research and answers to questions such as those just posed were last considered in depth nearly 20 years ago by the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research.
The French Law on “Protection of Persons Undergoing Biomedical Research”: Implications for the U.S.
Authors: Berlin Ivan , Gorelick David A. 
Published: January 2007

Because research involving human subjects exposes people to risk not always for their own potential benefit, the question arises as to how best ensure that: (1) research participants are protected and benefited according to the highest ethical standards, while, on the other hand, (2) researchers are protected and free to do research that will produce clinical advances for both research participants and society as a whole.The balancing of the risk to research participants versus the benefits derived from the research is performed in many counrries by a system for the protection of human research participants that is laid out in national laws and regulations. In the United States, this system is based on principles emanating from the Nuremberg Code, the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki,and the report of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (the Belmont Rept).
Currents in Contemporary Ethics
Authors: Anderlik Mary R. , Rothstein Mark A. 
Published: January 2007

In financial disputes involving research, the parties are traditionally individual researchers and their institutions, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and other entities engaged in the commercial development of biomedical research. Occasionally, research subjects claim that researchers have misled them or misappropriated their biological materials to derive financial gain. The best known example is the case of Moore v. Regents of the University of California, decided in 1990.With new developments in genomics, large-scale repositories of tissue and other biological specimens are increasingly important. Biobanks have been established by various researchers, commercial entities, health-care institutions, and even entire countries. Individuals who contribute specimens almost always retain no commercial interest in any resulting research and language to that effect is now customarily included in informed consent documents signed at the time the specimen is given. Suppose, however, that the research subjects actually collect the specimens themselves, recruit the researcher, and provide financial support for the research.
Public Health and the Built Environment: Historical, Empirical, and Theoretical Foundations for an Expanded Role
Authors: Perdue Wendy C. , Gostin Lawrence O. , Stone Lesley A. 
Published: January 2007

In 2000, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health issued a report that explored some of the ways in which “sprawl” impacts public health. The report has generated great interest, and state health officials are beginning to discuss the relationship between land use and public health. The CDC report has also produced a backlash. For example, the Southern California Building Industry Association labeled the report “a ludicrous sham” and argued that the CDC should stick to “fighting physical diseases, not defending political ones.”In retrospect, it is probably unfortunate that this report was funded by an organization called “Sprawl Watch.” “Spraw” is a word that has no clear meaning but is applied to a huge range of issues involving suburban development.
Technologies to Detect Concealed Weapons: Fourth Amendment Limits on a New Public Health and Law Enforcement Tool
Authors: Vernick Jon S. , Pierce Matthew W. , Webster Daniel W. , Johnson Sara B. , Frattaroli Shannon 
Published: January 2007

Firearm violence is a major public health problem in the United States. In 2000, firearms were used in 10,801 homicides – two-thirds of all homicides in the U.S. – and 533,470 non-fatal criminal victimizations including rapes, robberies, and assaults. The social costs of gun violence in the United States are also staggering, and have been estimated to be on the order of $100 billion per year.Illegal gun carrying, usually concealed, in public places is an important risk factor for firearm-related crime. In the 1980s and 1990s, police departments across the country began to develop and implement strategies to address illegal weapons carrying. Often these strategies have involved aggressive efforts to identify and physically search individuals suspected of illegally carrying a firearm.
New Hope for Victims of Prison Sexual Assault
Authors: Mair Julie Samia , Frattaroli Shannon , Teret Stephen P. 
Published: January 2007

Senate Bill 1435, the “Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003,” was introduced into the Senate on July 21, 2003, and in less than a week passed both the Senate and House by unanimous consent. The Bill was presented to President Bush on September 2, 2003, and he signed it two days later on September 4, 2003. The stated purposes of the Act are far-reaching and ambitious:(1)establish a zero-tolerance standard for the incidence of prison rape in prisons in the United States;(2)make the prevention of prison rape a top priority in each prison system;(3)develop and implement national standards For the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape;(4)increase the available data and information on the incidence of prison rape, consequently improving the management and administration of correctional facilities;(5)standardize the definitions used for collecting data on the incidence of prison rape;
Dealing with Humpty Dumpty: Research, Practice, and the Ethics of Public Health Surveillance
Authors: Fairchild Amy L. 
Published: January 2007

Alice considered [the idea of un-birthday presents] a little. “I llke birthday presents best,” she said at last.“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” cried Humpty Dumpty. … “[There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents… And onlyonefor birthday presents, you know. There’s a ‘glory’ for you!”“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’” Alice said.Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’”“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument,’” Alice objected.“WhenIuse a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
The Myth of Exceptionalism: The History of Venereal Disease Reporting in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Fairchild Amy L. , Colgrove James , Bayer Ronald 
Published: January 2007

As therapeutic advances in the treatment of AIDS began to emerge in the late 1980s and public health began to have more to offer than just the threat, or the perceived threat, of quarantine or partner notification, fissures began to appear in the alliance against named HIV reporting that had emerged a few years earlier. In 1989, New York City’s Health Commissioner stated that the prospects of early clinical intervention warranted “a shift toward a disease-control approach to HIV infection along the lines of classic tuberculosis practices,” including the “reporting of seropositives.”Although his proposal met with fierce and effective resistance, it is now clear that his call represented part of a national trend. The CDC continued to press for cases of HIV to he reported by name to health departments, an effort that assumed the dimensions of a campaign. It was supported by a growing number of public health officials.
The Role of State Law in Protecting Human Subjects of Public Health Research and Practice
Authors: Burris Scott , Gable Lance , Stone Lesley , Lazzarini Zita 
Published: January 2007

“Public health practice” consists of activities and Programs managed by public health agencies to promote health and prevent disease, injury, and disability. Some of these activities might be deemed to fit within the broad definition of “research” under federal regulations, known as the Common Rule, designed to protect human research subjects. The Common Rule defines research as “a systeniatic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” Public health activities that might under some circumstances be considered research include disease reporting, review of medical records, surveys, interviews, focus groups, specimen collection (blood, urine, etc.), and laboratory testing (both identifiable and anonymous).There are questions about the extent to which the Common Rule applies or was intended to apply to public health practice: and it has been suggested in any case that Common Rule regulation of public health practice may not be socially optimal for both practical and principled reasons.
Health Information Privacy and Public Health
Authors: Hodge James G. 
Published: January 2007

Protecting the privacy of individually-identifiable health data and promoting the public’s health often seem at odds. Privacy advocates consistently seek to limit the acquisition, use, and disclosure of identifiable health information in governmental and private sector settings. Their concerns relate to misuses or wrongful disclosures of sensitive health data that can lead to discrimination and stigmatization against individuals. Public health practitioners, on the other hand, seek regular, ongoing access to and use of identifiable health information to accomplish important public health objectives. The collection and use of identifiable health data by federal, tribal, state, and local health authorities support nearly all public health functions and goals.Identifiable health data are the lifeblood of public health practice. When aggregated, these data help authorities monitor the incidence, patterns, and trends of injury and disease in populations. Health data are acquired by public health authorities through testing, screening, and treatment programs.
What is Public Health Legal Preparedness?
Authors: Moulton Anthony D. , Gottfried Richard N. , Goodman Richard A. , Murphy Anne M. , Rawson Raymond D. 
Published: January 2007

“Public health legal preparedness” is a term born in the ferment, beginning in the late 1990s, that has led to unprecedented recognition of the essential role law plays in public health and, even more recently, in protecting the public from terrorism and other potentially catastrophic health threats.The initial articulation of public health has not kept pace with rapid evolution in the concept and in practical development of public health preparedness itself. This poses the risk that legal preparedness may fall behind construction of general readiness in the public health system—and may, in fact, undercut achievement of comprehensive public health preparedness for massive threats to health in both the United States and world-wide. Inadvertent results might include both negative health impacts and infringement on individual rights.
Public Health Literacy for Lawyers
Authors: Parmet Wendy E. , Robbins Anthony 
Published: January 2007

Public health professionals recognize the critical role the law plays in determining the success of public health measures. Even before September 11, 2001, public health experience with tobacco use, HIV, industrial pollution and other potent threats to the health of the public demonstrated that laws can assist or thwart public health efforts. The new focus on infectious threats and bioterrorism, starting with the anthrax attacks through the mail and continuing with SARS, has highlighted the important role of law.For lawyers to serve as effective partners in public health, they should have a basic familiarity with public health: how public health professionals see the world and the key issues they tackle. A practical grasp of public health can be acquired, and often is acquired, “on the job.”
Fast Food Fighters Fall Flat: Plaintiffs Fail to Establish that McDonalds should be Liable for Obesity-related Illnesses
Authors: Falit Ben 
Published: January 2007

This nation’s obesity epidemic is hardly a laughing matter. Approximately 300,000 Americans die from obesity-related causes each year, and without corrective measures, obesity may soon be responsible for as many deaths as cigarette smoking. Sixty-one percent of adults are overweight or obese, and the cost of obesity for the year 2000 was estimated to be 117 billion dollars.In Pelman v. McDmalds, a case decided in September 2003, a federal judge dismissed an amended complaint that attempted to hold McDonalds liable for its customers’ obesity-related illnesses. While many argue that such litigation is frivolous and that the plaintiffs did not deserve direct compensation for their injuries, the debate has largely overlooked the important question raised by these cases - who should pay for the enormous financial strain that obesity places on America’s health care system? Although the courtroom may not be the appropriate forum to deal with this issue, the litigation has undoubtedly brought a great deal of much-needed attention to a vexatious social problem.
Healthcare Reimbursement: HMO Arbitration Clause Enforced
Authors: Kelly Carly 
Published: January 2007

In Pacificare Health Systems, Inc. v. Jefrey Book, the US. Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory arbitration clause in an HMO contract should be enforced to compel a physician to arbitrate his RICO charges against the health plan, even though the clause could be construed to limit the arbitrator’s authority to award full damages under the RICO statute. The ruling could prevent physicians with health plan arbitration agreements from taking future reimbursement claims against insurance companies directly to court, even when the allegations involve a potential statutory breach outside of the explicit scope of the provider contract.Dr. Book’s arbitration claim was part of a larger class action lawsuit filed in August of 2000 by a group of physicians and patients seeking reimbursement from eight managed care companies for unpaid health insurance claims.
Second Circuit Permits State Malpractice Suit against HMO
Authors: Lumelsky Anna 
Published: January 2007

On February 11, 2003, the Second Circuit ruled inCicio v. Vytra Healthcarethat patients may in some cases sue health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for medical malpractice under state law. The decision is particularly notable for opening the door to state tort claims in an area that had heen considered preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).ERISA is a federal statute that regulates employee benefit plans, establishing a complex set of rules and minimum standards for most health and pension plans in private industry. ERISA requires that participants receive certain information about their benefits plans, and imposes fiduciary responsibilities on individuals with discretionary control over plan assets. These individuals have certain specific duties, and are required to work “solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of: (i) providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries; and (ii) defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan.”
Supreme Court Limits Permissible Scope of Government’s Ability to Force Medication of Mentally Ill Defendants
Authors: Prieto-Gonzalez Mayelin 
Published: January 2007

On June 16, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that forced administration of antipsychotic drugs to a defendant facing serious criminal charges is appropriate in order to render that defendant competent to stand trial, but only in limited circumstances. The treatment must be medically appropriate, substantially unlikely to have side effects that may undermine the fairness of the trial, and necessary to significantly further important government interests, after taking account of less-intrusive alternatives.Charles Sell, a former dentist, had a long history of mental illness. He had been hospitalized twice, in 1982 and 1984, after expressing paranoid ideas to law enforcement officials. In May 1997, Sell was charged with fifty-six counts of mail fraud, six counts of Medicaid fraud, and one count of money laundering. He was released on bail after a magistrate determined that he was currently competent to stand trial.
The Consequences of Uninsurance for Individuals, Families, Communities, and the Nation
Authors: Wolman Dianne Miller , Miller Wilhelmine 
Published: January 2007

Until very recently, the lack of health insurance has been viewed primarily as a problem of financial risk for uninsured individuals. This article documents far broader adverse effects, drawn from the work of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance. It also synthesizes the Committee’s key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.In early 2004, following 3½ years of study, the IOM Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance recommended that “...the President and Congress develop a strategy to achieve universal insurance coverage and establish a firm and explicit schedule to reach this goal by 2010.” The Committee presented 5 principles to be used to assess various proposals for extending coverage or to guide the design of a new strategy, specifying that health care coverage should be universal, continuous, affordable to individuals and families, and affordable and sustainable for society.
The Current State of Employment-Based Health Coverage
Authors: Glied Sherry A. , Borzi Phyllis C. 
Published: January 2007

American policymakers and health policy analysts have a love-hate relationship with job-based health insurance. The policy press routinely runs articles about the demise of the current system of voluntary employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. Conservatives argue that it ought to be replaced with individually-purchased insurance, such as tax-favored spending accounts (see Mark Pauly’s article this issue). Liberals assert that government insurance ought to supplant it.Meanwhile, as the debate rages on about the future of employer coverage, states and the federal government pass legislation buttressing and building on the existing employment-based system. Most recently, California has passed an employer mandate requiring employers to cover their workers (and many other states have contemplated similar legislation) and Maine has adopted a universal coverage initiative that includes a voluntary small employer insurance program offered through a state agency (Dirigo Health Care).
Attending to Medicaid
Authors: Mann Cindy , Westmoreland Tim 
Published: January 2007

[P]layers line up in a long line and hold hands. The player at the front of the line is the ‘head’ and the player at the end of the line is the ‘tail’.… The game begins when the head begins to run wildly in any direction, making sharp turns and quick double-backs.… The force created by the twists and turns will often send the tail of the whip flying.… It may be best for the tail to hold on with both hands to keep from flying off the end. Sometimes, however, the tail will go flying no matter how hard they hold on ... Be prepared to get dirty if you play this game!--"Crack the Whip: Party Game CentralIf the evolution of American health policy (in both its purposeful and its accidental forms) is compared to the children’s game of Crack the Whip, then there is no question that the Medicaid program is the tail of the line. When those at the head of the line (e.g., employer-based insurance, Medicare, managed care plans, and pharmaceutical companies) start to move. Medicaid receives whatever shocks and unintended consequences result, and when the line “begins to run wildly in any direction,” it receives them faster and harder than the players at the center.Shocks also come from other sources. When the economy slumps, an epidemic arises, or a path in another part of the system becomes a cul-de-sac, new twists and turns occur, with Medicaid absorbing much of the change.
Why Can’t We Do What They Do? National Health Reform Abroad
Authors: Jost Timothy Stoltzfus 
Published: January 2007

Even Americans who have only a vague knowledge of health policy know that the U.S. is different. We do not have “socialized medicine,” like our European or Canadian neighbors. We believe that health care is not rationed here, and that, unlike citizens of other nations, we do not have to wait in long queues when we need medical care. We believe that U.S. health care is the best in the world.At the same time, the U.S. spends more on health care - both per capita and as percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) - than other nations do. One in six non-elderly Americans has no health insurance, and voluminous studies show that lack of health insurance has a dramatic effect on both access to care and on health status. Furthermore, on many of the most important indicators of population health, such as infant mortality and life expectancy, the U.S. scores worse than do other nations.
Where Do We Go from Here: Is There Any Hope for Real Health Care Reform?
Authors: Southby Richard F. 
Published: January 2007

As indicated in the title, the focus of this essay is on where we should go from here and not the how, which is addressed by other authors in this issue. I am assuming that there is probably a general consensus as to where we should be heading with health care reform, but there may well be some strong differences as to how this can or should be attained.In the summer of 1966, a year after the enactment of “Medicare,” I listened to Harry Becker, then the Executive Director of the New York Academy of Medicine, discuss the significance of the new health legislation and further changes that were likely in the near future. His analysis was that, after numerous attempts over many years, the United States was finally on the verge of implementing universal health insurance for all Americans. The next step would be health insurance for children, “Kiddicare.”