Syllabus

Schedule

Schedule

Week 1: Jan 17 – Jan 24
Week 2: Jan 24 – Jan 31
Week 3: Jan 31 – Feb 7
Week 4: Feb 7 – Feb 14
Week 5: Feb 14 – Feb 21
Week 6: Feb 21 – Feb 28
Week 7: Feb 28 – Mar 6
Week 8: Mar 6 – Mar 10

Week 1: Foundations of Public Health Law

• • Week 1 Discussion

    • Where does public health law show up in our everyday life and how does it impact the daily health of the public?

      Initial post:
      Find two examples of laws or regulations (e.g., municipal ordinances) from your own local and state governments that impact public health and link them in your post.

      Discuss the pros and cons of each of these examples.

      In what ways do they benefit your community or your state?
      In what ways might they be problematic for certain populations?
      In what ways might they be insufficient to address the public health problem?

      In your responses consider the impact on different populations or groups (e.g., age, gender, race, class, LGBTQ+ status, etc).

      The local and state examples do not have to be on a related public health issue.

      Response post:

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

Week 2: Government Regulation for the Public’s Health: Administrative Law and Litigation to Protect Public Health

• • Week 2 Discussion 

    • Initial post:

      Applying the principles of Ruan v. U.S., discuss the impact of this decision on public health:

      Will doctors be more or less likely to prescribe opioids?
      How can they attend to the needs of their patients but still take steps to avoid opioid misuse?
      Was Ruan rightly decided, in your view? Why or why not?

      Response post: 

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

  • Week 2 Written Assignment

    • The essence of public health law is the balance between the rights of individuals and the right and obligation of government to protect the health of the public. Choose one of the following topics and write a well-reasoned 1000-1200 word essay analyzing the issue from both perspectives. What are the legal principles in favor of each perspective? What are the public health principles in favor of each perspective? Where do they converge and diverge?

      Use the template provided.

      National mask mandates during an active pandemic
      OR
      Federally mandated safe gun storage law

      Be sure to refer to legal principles in the text and in course materials.

Week 3: Law and the Practice of Public Health

• • Week 3 Discussion

    • Listen to this podcast episode from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health – A Court Decision Reducing Access to Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act.

      Initial post:

      If the government cannot mandate health plans to cover preventive services based on sound evidence, such as the US Preventive Services Task Force, what are the implications for public health? Are there other ways to incentivize prevention activities? Are health plans motivated to cover such services on their own as a way to reduce coverage costs for treatment later on? What are the arguments for and against? Use the PESTLE framework for thinking about this and consider at least 3 of the PESTLE domains (NOTE: the table in the PHF summary are examples; they are not the only way PESTLE is applied in public health analyses).

      Response post: 

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

Week 4: Public Health Research – Collecting Data for Public Health Purposes

• • Week 4 Discussion

    • Review the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA) before engaging with the this discussion. Pay particular attention to Articles V and VI.

      Initial post:

      Assume that your state has adopted the MSEHPA. Using your own community (city, town, or county) as a point of reference, provide three specific examples of how one or more provisions of the MSEHPA was applied during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022). Clearly describe the public health emergency activity in your community and the specific MSEHPA authority that would justify that action. Also indicate whether and how these actions had disparate impact on certain populations.

      Response post:

      Write two response posts. How were events in your community similar or different? What are some attributes of your community that might have influenced its PHE response (e.g., politics, size, geography, demographics)? You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

  • Week 4 Assignment

    • Additional reading for this assignment: Opioid Settlement Payouts to Localities Made Public for First Time Kaiser Family Foundation (2023).

      Read the article above and review the content in Chapters 5 and 10. Write a 1000-1200 word paper discussing the primary lessons from major litigation on public health issues. Address the benefits and potential limitations or risks of litigation against manufacturers, distributors, and/or service providers. Consider who are the stewards of the public’s interests. Who should the beneficiaries be and how can court orders or court-approved settlements protect the interests of the public and address the harms suffered by individual people (e.g., sick people, families of people who have died)?

      You should consider these issues as they relate to public health threats beyond the opioid crisis (e.g. harm from environmental contamination, unsafe products).

      Use the template provided.

Week 5: Environmental Harms and Public Health and Public Health Law and Indigenous Populations

• • Week 5 Discussion

    • PFAS chemicals are a health threat to all of us and a financial and existential threat to many farmers who find they have PFAS chemicals in the ground on their farms. Review this NYT article 3M Reaches $10.3 Billion Settlement in ‘Forever Chemicals’ Suits.

      Initial post:

      The per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water (CDC Fact Sheet). Using public health principles, argue persuasively for AND against the use of PFAS chemicals. Also, was the settlement with 3M enough? How should those settlement monies be used to repair harms that have already occurred and prevent future harm? Will this settlement encourage manufacturers to learn more about their products before they market them?

      Response post:

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

Week 6: Special Populations: LGBTQ+ and Women’s Health

• • Week 6 Discussion

    • Let’s think about the longer-term public health consequences of abortion restrictions from the interesting perspective of provider access.

      Read ‘We’re not going to win that fight’: Bans on abortion and gender-affirming care are driving doctors from Texas from The 19th News.

      Initial post:

      What are some options for state laws and policies that could keep existing OB-GYN providers or recruit new ones? What are the consequences of a reduction in providers and what are the likely impacts on certain populations? What about the spectrum of gender-affirming care; what are the consequences for trans youth and their families?

      Response post: 

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

  • Week 6 Written Assignment

    • Please read the Brennan Center for Justice’s analysis of the important issue of reproductive rights given the number of people impacted by abortion restrictions. Is abortion a constitutional right?

      Consider other constitutionally protected rights such as women’s right to vote (19th Amendment), the right to freedom from enslavement (13th Amendment), protection of right to vote on basis of race (15th Amendment) and the impact they have had on civic participation, population health (consider all social determinants of health). With those protections in mind, and considering the public health implications on ill-prepared individuals, families, communities of raising and supporting children, answer the following questions:

      What are three (3) possible local or state level policy responses to Dobbs that will protect the health and finances of women or pregnant people forced to remain pregnant and raise a child?
      What are two (2) state or federal policy responses to address the decreasing numbers of OB-GYN providers, particularly in those states with abortion restrictions so that women can access care?

      Use the template provided.

Week 7: Legal Epidemiology

• • Week 7 Discussion

    • We will use a modified version of the “spark question” from Chapter 19 in your text for this week’s Discussion.

      Initial post:

      Provide two (2) examples of laws, regulations, or ordinances that you believe have influenced public health. Explain how they have influenced the health of the public and discuss how you might evaluate whether those laws (or regulations or ordinances) have had positive, negative, or no significant impact on public health over time.

      Response post: 

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

Week 8: Public Health Ethics

• • Week 8 Discussion 
    • X

      Initial post:

      After reading Chapters 2 and 8 in the Nuffield Report, what are your opinions about how a community with a public health concern and limited resources should allocate those resources among populations or groups at risk? How should stigma be factored in, particularly for groups that are particularly stereotyped or discriminated against? Explain your thinking using public health ethical principles cited in the text or in the Nuffield Report.

      Response post:

      Write two response posts that are thoughtful and well-reasoned using public health law principles. You can choose to respond to the same peer more than once, instead of responding to multiple peers.

  • Week 8 Written Assignment

    • Additional reading for assignment:

      Nichol, A.A., Mermin-Bunnell, K.M. The ethics of COVID-19 vaccine distribution. J Public Health Pol 42, 514–517 (2021).

      The Nichol article raises questions about how we should distribute future vaccines when the supply or distribution requires an allocation plan. Using reasoning from the article and from the Nuffield Report, what allocation plan would you suggest and why, given the following scenario, and is there anything else you would need or want to know?

       

      • Urban community with dense housing

      • Diverse race, ethnicity, and age

      • Low and middle income

      • Foreign traveler is sick with Ebola, infecting 10 hospital staff and threatening many others. Fatality rate is 20% across age groups

      • Ebola vaccine is available but will come in batches over months and will take 3 months to get enough for everyone in the community

Use the template provided. The word limit is 750.

Student Resources

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