Bill of Health

MARCH 11, 2024

By Hannah Rahim New technologies are increasing the accessibility of polygenic embryo screening, which can assess the likelihood of an embryo developing polygenic diseases (e.g., diabetes, schizophrenia) or provide insight into certain polygenic traits (e.g., height, intelligence). This procedure has many complex clinical, social, and ethical implications, but is currently unregulated in the U.S.

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Bill of Health

MARCH 7, 2024

By Vincent Joralemon In my last post , I discussed the rise of psychedelic lobbying — how companies with vested economic interests in psychedelics have applied pressure to shape regulations that favor their business models. One such initiative — the ketamine therapy industry’s push to extend the COVID-era telemedicine flexibilities for prescriptions of controlled substances — highlights how sophisticated these campaigns can be, and how their impact stretches beyond the psychedelic industry

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Bill of Health

MARCH 6, 2024

By Hannah Rahim The regulation of medical assistance in dying (MAID) is drastically different between the U.S. and Canada. Comparing the hasty liberalization of MAID in Canada with the more wary approach of the U.S. can yield important learnings for both countries. An overview of MAID laws in Canada and the U.S. In 2016, the Parliament of Canada passed a federal law enabling eligible Canadian adults to request MAID.

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Informed Consent Governance Bioethics 129

Bill of Health

MARCH 4, 2024

By Vincent Joralemon Psychedelic companies and advocacy groups are spending substantial resources to influence regulatory policy, shaping what the blossoming field will ultimately cohere into. Although regulations are designed to protect the public interest , the rulemaking process is often dominated by lobbying from those with special interests in the fields meant to be regulated.

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Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

By Tegan M. Carr As a researcher studying the psychedelic experiences of people of color in hopes of driving equitable psychedelic health care, I’m concerned about the ways in which Black, Brown, and Indigenous contributions have been excluded in the development of the psychedelic field and investigation of novel psychedelic therapies. By excluding diverse contributions to the psychedelic field, we risk establishing psychedelic practices that exacerbate racial health inequities (disparities) in

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Governance FDA World Health Health Outcomes 120

Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

By Adithi Iyer I have written previously about the not-so-distant possibility and promise of regenerative medicine , an area concerned with therapies that encourage the body to repair or heal itself. Cell-mediated and tissue-based technologies hold promise in inducing self-repair from within the body, and they’re making their way to market in traditional medicine.

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Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

By Joelle Boxer This month, the Alabama Supreme Court held that the term “children” in a state statute includes embryos, or “extrauterine children.” As fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) involve the creation of multiple embryos, not all of which are implanted, the implications of this ruling could be far-reaching. Four million births each year in the U.S. are via IVF, an important pathway to parenthood for couples with infertility, LGBTQ couples, and single parents.

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Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

By Katherine L. Kraschel Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court called frozen embryos created via in vitro fertilization (IVF) “extrauterine children” and referred to the cryotanks where they are stored as “cryogenic nurser(ies).” The Court sided with couples who claim the accidental destruction of frozen embryos created through IVF and cryopreserved ought to be treated equally to the death of a child.

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Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Editor’s Note: Congratulations, Bobby, and welcome to the world, baby Stroup! By Bobby Stroup If you give a law student a baby, they’re going to look for legal risk. And if they live in the Bay State , they’re going to want a class on ‘MILK’ (Massachusetts Infant Legal Knowhow). Then, after learning about the relevant law and policy, they’re probably going to want to write a legal blog post.

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Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

By Maxim Tvorun-Dunn Silicon Valley depends on boom-and-bust cycles , manufacturing a new wave of investments every few months by promising grand technological revolutions, whether through AI, cryptocurrency, metaverses, or any other buzzword of the tech industry. These bubbles are furnished by media narratives and tech journalism. Through uncritical reporting of press releases and overexaggerating claims , news outlets help tech industrialists inflate their stock portfolios, while regularly ign

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Health Care Access Public Health 201

Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Alicia Ely Yamin J.D. (1991), M.P.H. (1996), Ph.D. is a Lecturer on Law and the Director of the Global Health and Rights Project at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics (PFC) at Harvard Law School; Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Health Policy and Management at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; and Senior Adviser on Human Rights and Health Policy at the global health justice organization, Partners In Health.

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Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

By Tahlia Harrison As a practicing therapist in Oregon working with complex trauma survivors, I was optimistic at first about the passage in 2020 of Measure 109 and its promise of legalizing psilocybin-assisted therapy. Psilocybin has been shown in small samples to be an effective intervention for many challenges my clients face; I was excited about this option to further support their healing.

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Licensing Informed Consent Health Outcomes Governance 111

Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

By Bobby Stroup On December 19, WHOOP announced their flagship product (bearing the same name as the company) is now eligible for FSA and HSA spending. This news means customers might use tax deductions to purchase the “ wearable ” wellness device. Effectively, courtesy of Uncle Sam, Americans can now save money on trying to be like Michael Phelps and Colleen Quigley.

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Doctors Medicare Medicare Public Health 111

Bill of Health

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

By Eiko I. Fried and Michiel van Elk Much optimism has been expressed about the potential of psychedelics to treat mental health problems such as suicidal ideation, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This optimism goes hand in hand with a notable increase in research publications, investments from pharmaceutical companies, patent filings, media exposure, as well as shifts in political and legislative landscapes.

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Bill of Health

JANUARY 30, 2024

By Caroline Hayes The psychedelic renaissance is well underway, with hundreds of clinical trials currently looking into a plethora of different mental health conditions. I was a sub-investigator on a clinical trial researching a psychedelic study drug to treat depression, but I have since stepped back from psychedelic clinical trials due to personal ethical concerns about the way the field is evolving.

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Informed Consent Doctors 210

Bill of Health

JANUARY 29, 2024

By Neşe Devenot Since the 2022 publication of “ Preparing for the Bursting of the Psychedelic Hype Bubble ,” a JAMA Psychiatry Viewpoint by David Yaden and colleagues, a wave of scholarship and commentaries has emphasized the ethical importance of nuanced science communication about the still-nascent field of psychedelic medicine. As the journalist Katie MacBride recently described in The Daily Beast , there is now a “growing minority” of scholars and activists in the psychedelics field who are

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Informed Consent Bioethics Doctors 355

Bill of Health

JANUARY 24, 2024

By Adithi Iyer The legal world is atwitter with the developing artificial intelligence (“AI”) copyright cage match between The New York Times and OpenAI. The Times filed its complaint in Manhattan Federal District Court on December 27 accusing OpenAI of unlawfully using its (copyrighted and paywalled) articles to train ChatGPT. OpenAI, in turn, published a sharply-worded response on January 8, claiming that its incorporation of the material for training purposes squarely constitutes fair use.

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Licensing 129

Bill of Health

JANUARY 16, 2024

By Joelle Boxer Tracy Droz Tragos’ new documentary, “ Plan C ,” follows the work of a grassroots organization dedicated to improving access to the abortion pill by mail in the U.S., while navigating an increasingly restrictive legal landscape. There is no better time to hear the perspectives of these patients, providers, and activists. Just last month, the U.S.

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Bill of Health

JANUARY 10, 2024

(Clockwise from top left: Daniela Cepeda Cuadrado , Lucía Berro Pizzarossa , Natalia Pires de Vasconcelos, Thalia Viveros Uehara ) The Petrie-Flom Center is excited to welcome four new affiliated researchers to the Global Health and Rights Project (GHRP). Through regular contributions to Bill of Health , as well as workshops and other projects, GHRP affiliated researchers will bring their expertise to bear on both national and global problems, advancing critical socio-legal scholarship both with

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Doctors Public Health 135

Bill of Health

JANUARY 2, 2024

By Jon Larsen and Sterling Johnson There is a well-established whole of government response to drug policing centered around the “war on drugs.” However, the existing response is largely built on flawed policies that have resulted in mass incarceration, structural racism, and lagging improvements in treatment and harm reduction related to the opioid crisis.

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US Department of Health and Human Services Governance Public Health Health Care Reform 261

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 28, 2023

By Bobby Stroup Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t magic , but there is value in telling a magical story to non-technical stakeholders to describe how we’ll govern this transformative technology. In fact, President Joe Biden himself could benefit by borrowing from an existing legend. Let’s pick a story that’s already popular and one where heroes successfully overcame a dangerous technology.

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Governance 261

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 22, 2023

By Aparajita Lath* The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), hosted the 10 th Trilateral Symposium on Human Health and Climate Change in Geneva this November. This article reflects the significant effort made to put climate-sensitive diseases, many of which are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), at the forefront of these talks.

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Public Health Governance World Health Doctors 157

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 18, 2023

By Laura C. Hoffman The aging population is growing at an extraordinary rate in the U.S. By 2040, it is anticipated that the U.S. aging population (defined as those ages 65 and older) will double, totaling 80 million. Given this growth, preventing elder abuse must be at the forefront of policymaking. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recognized elder abuse as a “serious” problem that is commonly occurring, yet significantly underreported, in the U.S.

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Elder Abuse Nursing Homes Nurses Public Health 300

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 11, 2023

By Luciano Bottini Filho, Camila Gianella Malca, and Alicia Ely Yamin The intersection of health financing and the right to health is a common concern in public health advocacy. However, it is challenging to isolate the mechanisms that connect individuals’ rights with increased public investment. As scholars, we grapple with the question of what happens once the right to health is constitutionalized and whether it has a transformative effect on the economy, government funding, and the mate

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Bioethics Public Health Governance Pharmaceutical Industry 326

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 6, 2023

By Hannah Rahim Many mental health provider directories for private and public insurance plans contain inaccurate or outdated provider information , which creates a misleading illusion of accessible care. These ghost networks result in many patients being unable to access essential mental health care. To tackle this issue, federal and state governments should strengthen the regulation of insurance networks and insurers should address underlying causes of inadequate networks.

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Governance Medicaid Medicaid Medicare 144

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 5, 2023

By Silvia Serrano Guzmán On July 4, 2023 the Constitutional Court of Colombia handed down a landmark decision on one of the most difficult dilemmas faced during the COVID-19 pandemic: the rationing of intensive care in situations of scarcity. Although the need for prioritization was a reality almost globally, many countries had no such regulation in place, which frequently led to the adoption of fragmented and discriminatory triage protocols.

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Public Health COVID-19 Governance COVID-19 Vaccine 157

Bill of Health

DECEMBER 1, 2023

By Adithi Iyer As the provision of human tissue leaves the research realm and becomes a bona fide consumer transaction , our legal responses to these developments will be most effective when we know what we want to protect, and how. Perhaps the most famous discussion around tissue “donation” comes from the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family. Ms.

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Informed Consent FDA 157

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

By Sheila Varadan, Ton Liefaard, and Jaap Doek The Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies (Principles) make a significant contribution towards clarifying the scope of States’ legal obligations under international human rights law during public health emergencies. What is missing, however, is a specific and detailed discussion on the rights obligations and principles owed to children during public health emergencies.

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Public Health COVID-19 State Policy Compliance 184

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

By Alma Beltrán y Puga This past weekend marked the 25 th of November, a day to remember that all manifestations of gender-based violence should be prevented and eliminated in health procedures. Unfortunately, one of the most prevalent forms of gender-based violence — obstetric violence — has not been sufficiently addressed by health practitioners.

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Doctors Nurses World Health Hospitals 312

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

By Zione Ntaba Malawi is not a stranger to public health crises in the last number of years, having faced a severe HIV epidemic and several cholera outbreaks continuing into 2023. Nevertheless, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a major panic in the country’s legal system and judiciary. COVID-19 brought to fruition a major ethical dilemma in ensuring the justice system’s continued functioning, while also protecting the lives of all those involved, and simultaneously ensuring the promotion

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COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine Informed Consent Public Health 302

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

By Joelle Boxer In November 2021, Tanzania’s Ministry of Education reversed a policy preventing adolescent mothers from attending public schools. Two years on, research shows the movement for #ArudiShuleni (“Back to School”) requires continued support. Prior to the policy change, an estimated 6,550 – 15,000 Tanzanian girls and adolescents were forced out of school each year due to pregnancy, while thousands more were subject to coercive pregnancy testing.

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Governance Hospitals Public Health 144

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

By Eduardo Arenas Catalán The Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies (the Principles), entail a notable attempt to consolidate lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. After the largely non-solidaristic international response to COVID-19, the Principles outline the advantages and limitations of embedding human rights discourse within the global public health machinery.

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Public Health COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine Health Care Reform 254

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

By Brianna da Silva Bhatia, Michele Heisler, and Christian De Vos American health care too often fails to protect the right to health or promote health-related rights. Despite efforts to increase access to health care and to better incentivize high-quality, value-based care, the United States’ health care system remains fragmented, largely profit-based, and predominantly disease-focused rather than prevention-focused.

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COVID-19 Public Health ACA Health Insurance 157

Bill of Health

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

By Joelle Boxer Dobbs “return[ed]” the authority to regulate abortion to “the people and their elected representatives.” The people of Ohio will act on that authority on November 7, demonstrating yet again the emerging role of referenda in American abortion law. The referendum will determine if “ The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Amendment ,” or Issue 1, is added to the Ohio Constitution.

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Governance Public Health 144

Bill of Health

OCTOBER 31, 2023

By Calvin Wai-Loon Ho With the mainstreaming of digital technology across many spheres of social life, infodemic management must be an integral part of public health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. While the Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies (the Principles) do not make explicit reference to infodemics, the application of digital technologies in response to a public health emergency is a clear concern.

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Bill of Health

OCTOBER 30, 2023

By Bobby Stroup 2023 is the year of the emoji lawsuit. This year a “thumbs-up” emoji was found to be part of a legally binding contract. In another legal case, a “moon” emoji was found to be possible evidence of securities fraud. This legal evolution may seem a bit strange. We are more accustomed to emojis being the characters in a “ cinematic masterpiece ” or the subject of corporate public relations.

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Doctors Hospitals Fraud Health Insurance 284

Bill of Health

OCTOBER 23, 2023

By Camila Gianella Between August and mid-October 2023, media reports documented a string of tragedies: six Peruvian girls between the ages of 10 and 13 were raped by relatives, resulting in unwanted pregnancies. Initially, health workers denied the girls access to abortion, and ultimately one died during labor. Health workers and other bureaucrats denied these girls access to therapeutic abortion on different grounds: Some withheld access to information or asked for the authorization of the par

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Public Health 144