Current Issues in Public Health Policy and Law

LAW

817

Current Issues in Public Health Policy and Law

Through this course students will gain an overview of approaches to public health law and policy and develop the capacity to analyze the factual and legal underpinning of public health issues. Students will gain an understanding of the range of conceptual topics such as government authority to compel individuals and businesses to behave in a way that promotes public health and the limitations on state power. They will learn how to integrate concepts of constitutional law, statutory and administrative law, and tort law concepts in their analysis. Students will analyze social justice and the health of vulnerable populations, infectious disease control, public and corporate responsibility for chronic disease, and the government role in promoting public health. Students, with faculty approval, will choose additional course topics based on their particular areas of interest. Each student will research, prepare, write, and orally present a public health law case study. The study will identify the student’s chosen public health issue, describe the population affected, review the public health literature, describe and critique the law that impacts on the public health issue. Evaluation in the course will be based on class participation, the development of a written case study, the oral presentation of the case study, and participation in the presentations of colleagues’ case studies. The course differs from health law, disability law, and mental disability law and will not directly duplicate the topics covered in those courses. However, students who have a particular interest in aspects of these topics will have an opportunity to develop their case studies and presentations around those interests.

Fall, Spring

Law

No