December 5 is the deadline to submit comments on the Trump Administration's recent action to gut the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, which requires employer-sponsored health plans to ensure women's access to free, effective contraception. This decision, announced in October in two Interim Final Rules, threatens serious harm to American children, because of the risk that women who lack access to contraception will become pregnant, contract Zika, and unwittingly transmit the virus to their developing fetus.
Read moreBriefly: Some Interesting Public Health Law Moves in Massachusetts
As you enjoy a very nutritious helping or two of Thanksgiving dinner this week, here's some interesting happenings in Massachusetts public health law for you to chew on (haaa).
Read moreGOP Tax Bill Would Inflict Real Pain on Nonprofit Hospitals [From Philly.com] →
Nonprofit hospitals have had much to fear from Congress recently. The Senate came within one vote of repealing much of the Affordable Care Act, which would have left millions of patients uninsured and unable to pay for hospital care. And Congress may soon consider major cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, which could slash reimbursement for many hospital services.
Read moreGeneric Drugs and the PTAB
When the Hatch-Waxman Act was passed into law in 1984, it established the generic drug industry and thereby forever changed the marketplace for prescription drugs. Today 80% or more of all prescriptions are filled with generic drugs, which has resulted in a savings of $1.67 trillion from 2007 to 2016.
Read moreCT Court Rules that State Cannot Vaccinate Children in its Temporary Care Without Parental Consent
The Supreme Court of Connecticut has, for the second time in three months, ruled that the state Department of Children and Families cannot vaccinate children in its custody without explicit parental consent. News outlets have proclaimed in alarmist headlines that “State Can’t Vaccinate Kids in Temporary Custody,” but that’s untrue – Connecticut can continue to vaccinate children in its temporary custody, as long as the parents agree. The state is not actually prohibited from vaccinating any and all children in its custody, but the decision is still concerning from a public health perspective.
Read moreSmart Gun Technology and the Potential to Save Lives
In the 1970s, a California man designed a magnetic lock that could be installed in the revolvers used by law enforcement, rendering the gun inoperable unless the user was wearing a special ring with an opposing magnet. This device, designed so that someone who grabbed a police officer’s gun would not be able to turn that gun back on the officer, represented the first “smart gun” technology (and can still be purchased today for a mere $420).
Read moreNavigating Minor Consent Laws Toward Confidential PrEP Access for Adolescents
According to the CDC, as of 2015, youth ages 13-24 comprised a staggering 22% of all new HIV infections in the United States. Given this alarming incidence rate, developing new and effective HIV prevention modalities for adolescents and young adults, and eliminating major delivery barriers, has become a priority. In the sphere area of biomedical HIV prevention for at-risk adolescents, one legal barrier looms large.
Read moreMaking America Healthy Again: Analyzing Trump's Take on the Social Determinants of Health [from Health Affairs Blog] →
George Consortium member and Northeastern University professor Patricia Illingsworth concludes on the Health Affairs Blog that the Trump administration shows "little interest in addressing the social determinants" of health, such as "education, socioeconomic status, poverty, the physical and social environment, employment, and discrimination, among others..."
Read moreAmerican Beverage Association v. San Francisco: When the First Amendment Jeopardizes Public Health
Last week, while the health law world focused on the Republicans’ renewed attempt to repeal and replace the ACA, the Ninth Circuit struck an ominous blow to public health.
Read more"Graham-Cassidy" Provides Zero Funding to Address the "Opioid Crisis"
One of the few positive provisions of the summer’s Senate “health care” bills was the inclusion of funding to states to “support substance use disorder treatment and recovery support services.” With more than 30,000 people dying from heroin and painkiller overdoses in the United States every year, sufficient funding to address and effectively treat the issue is crucial. Yet the latest version of the “health care” bill has omitted this funding entirely.
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