Hot Topics: Health Regulation & Law

Blog Posts (72)

September 20, 2016

My Experience with Texas Campus Carry Laws as a New Professor

by Keisha Ray, Ph.D.

Like many other new assistant professors across America, I spent the weeks before the beginning of the new fall semester in orientations covering everything from my university’s tenure requirements to how to fill out my health insurance forms to how to get a campus ID card.…

September 13, 2016

FDA Moves On Postponing Post-Antibiotic World

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

This month, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final ruling that certain 19 chemicals used in making “antibacterial soaps and body washes” should be removed from those products.…

August 29, 2016

Testing Donated Blood for Zika: Politics or Prudence?

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

The FDA has announced that within the next 3 months, all donated blood in the United States should be screened for Zika virus.…

August 19, 2016

Owning Medical Professionalism

by Jon C. Tilburt, MD & Richard R. Sharp, PhD

Discontinuity, handoffs, and shiftwork have infiltrated the fabric of healthcare. These changes, made in the name of patient safety, may have the unintended effect of reducing residency training to little more than a terrible shift job, disconnected from the professional ethos so critical to the practice of medicine.…

June 14, 2016

Reducing Tobacco Use Through Withdrawal Policies: When Should We Ban the Use of a Harmful Product?

Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD

In the first-year clinical skills course at our medical school, we offer a session on tobacco cessation.…

May 12, 2016

Euthanasia for Reasons of Mental Health

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

An article in the (UK) Daily Mail this week focused on a Dutch woman who chose euthanasia “after doctors decided her post-traumatic stress and other conditions were incurable.” Under Dutch euthanasia laws, a physician can end a patient’s life with a lethal injection for mental suffering.…

January 22, 2016

Revised Medical Access Records Guidelines Reinforce Patient Rights

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

A few years ago I moved cross-country for a new job. Among the many moving tasks that I had was getting copies of all my medical records so I could bring those to my new physicians.…

December 23, 2015

A Suggestion To Make Prescription Medicine Behind-the-Counter

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

I recently returned from a vacation to Central America. Besides having some adventures, I also noticed that the local towns had a large number of pharmacies—far more than would be expected of towns with small populations.…

December 4, 2015

The Bell Tolls for Death by Neurologic Criteria: Aden Hailu

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

A judge in Reno, Nevada this week denied a request by St. Mary’s Regional Hospital to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine that a patient is dead.…

October 20, 2015

Gov. Brown’s veto of right-to-try bill

by Lisa Kearns, MS, MA

The conservative press’s reaction to Gov. Jerry Brown’s veto of California’s “right-to-try” bill recently was surprising—not because of the vitriol expressed, or because the writers strongly supported the legislation, which was overwhelmingly popular in the state.…

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Published Articles (9)

AJOB Primary Research: Volume 7 Issue 3 - Jul 2016

Ethical challenges in designing and implementing health systems research: Experiences from the field Adnan Hyder & Carleigh Krubiner

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 16 Issue 2 - Feb 2016

Fetal Risks, Relative Risks, and Relatives' Risks Howard Minkoff & Mary Faith Marshall

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 16 Issue 2 - Feb 2016

Restricting Choices of Childbearing Women Bela Fishbeyn

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 15 Issue 8 - Aug 2015

The Texas Advanced Directive Law: Unfinished Business Michael Kapottos & Stuart Youngner

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 15 Issue 4 - Apr 2015

Kaci Hickox: Public Health and the Politics of Fear Steven H. Miles

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 15 Issue 4 - Apr 2015

Ideology and Microbiology: Ebola, Science, and Deliberative Democracy Joseph J. Fins

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 15 Issue 3 - Mar 2015

The Social Determinants of Health: Why Should We Care? Adina Preda & Kristin Voigt

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 15 Issue 3 - Mar 2015

Mandatory Cancer Risk Warnings on Alcoholic Beverages: What Are the Ethical Issues? Jennie Louise, Jaklin Eliott, Ian Olver & Annette Braunack-Ma

AJOB Neuroscience: Volume 5 Issue 2 - Mar 2014

If You Have Any Questions or Concerns, Please Contact… Peter Kalina

News (156)

September 22, 2016 8:00 am

Belgium minor first to be granted euthanasia (BBC News)

A terminally ill 17-year-old has become the first minor to be helped to die in Belgium since age restrictions on euthanasia requests were removed two years ago, officials say.

September 21, 2016 8:00 am

Study: Opioid use down in states with medical marijuana (The Olympian)

States that allow medical marijuana to be used to treat pain show a decline in the use of opioids, according to a new study.  The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, examined 69,000 traffic fatalities in 18 states from 1999 to 2013, focusing on differences between states that legalized medical marijuana and those that had not.

August 23, 2016 11:07 am

As lab-grown meat and milk inch closer to U.S. market, industry wonders who will regulate? (Science)

The first hamburger cooked with labmade meat didn’t get rave reviews for taste. But the test tube burger, rolled out to the press in 2013, has helped put a spotlight on the question of how the U.S. government will regulate the emerging field of cellular agriculture, which uses biotechnology instead of animals to make products such as meat, milk, and egg whites.

August 12, 2016 8:00 am

What Congress is saying about the DEA’s refusal to change course on pot (Washington Post)

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday rejected a petition to loosen federal restrictions on the use of marijuana. In making the move, however, the DEA did allow for more facilities to grow marijuana for use in medical research.

July 28, 2016 8:17 am

Europe overhauls rules for ‘first-in-human’ trials in wake of French disaster (Science)

The European Union is beefing up protections for volunteers in phase I clinical trials in the wake of a disastrous clinical study in Rennes, France, that resulted in the death of one volunteer and the hospitalization of five others. On 21 July, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in London announced in a “concept paper” that it wants to improve strategies to identify and reduce risks in “first-in-human” (FIH) studies on healthy volunteers. EMA is asking for input from stakeholders.

July 15, 2016 8:46 am

Opioid Bill Reframes Addiction As A Health Problem, Not A Crime (NPR)

The Senate is set to approve a bill intended to change the way police and health care workers treat people struggling with opioid addictions.

July 11, 2016 8:09 am

Juno Halts Cancer Trial Using Gene-Altered Cells After 3 Deaths (New York Times)

Three patients in a study testing the use of genetically engineered cells as a treatment for cancer have died from swelling in the brain, dealing a setback to one of the most exciting pursuits in oncology.

July 7, 2016 8:02 am

Seniors with access to medical marijuana use fewer prescription drugs (Reuters)

Physicians wrote significantly fewer prescriptions for painkillers and other medications for elderly and disabled patients who had legal access to medical marijuana, a new study finds.

June 29, 2016 8:36 am

FDA approves first pill to treat all forms of hepatitis C (CBS News)

Federal health officials on Tuesday approved the first pill to treat all major forms of hepatitis C, the latest in a series of drug approvals that have reshaped treatment of the liver-destroying virus.

June 22, 2016 8:18 am

Colorado's Teen Marijuana Usage Dips after Legalization (Scientific American)

Marijuana consumption by Colorado high school students has dipped slightly since the state first permitted recreational cannabis use by adults, a new survey showed on Monday, contrary to concerns that legalization would increase pot use by teens.

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