Category: 7th Annual Health Law Year in P/Review

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Ethical Concerns of DNA Databases used for Crime Control

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff 1 Comment

By Aziza Ahmed

Genetic databases for crime control have become a national topic for debate after the arrest of the Golden State Killer, also known by his real name, Joseph James DeAngelo.

At the time of his arrest, DeAngelo was 72 years old and had committed more than 50 rapes and 12 murders. While his arrest was celebrated as a law enforcement victory, a host of questions emerged because of the way law enforcement officials eventually found DeAngelo: through a combination of traditional detective work and utilization of data from a crowd-sourced genetic database. In this case, police searched GED-Match, a website created by the Mormon church where users can share genealogical information and find “familial” DNA matches

The Golden State Killer case reignited numerous debates on the issue of DNA searches and the use of DNA evidence, but with a twist. The big question is, should investigators utilize genetic databases, whether run by the government or by private agencies and individuals, to identify the families of suspects, if doing so will lead them to the culprit?

Though the opportunities for crime-solving by utilizing DNA database searches may be vast, new technologies and innovative uses of them do not occur in a vacuum. Instead, novel uses of technology demand consideration of a vast number of ethical issues, and mandate careful interrogation of the potential impact of DNA databases on crime control. Read More

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The Emergency Department is The “New” Frontier of Public Health

Stephen Wood Leave a comment

I had always considered my field of expertise to be emergency medicine. I worked through the ranks as an emergency medical technician, then onward as a paramedic, which included a nine-year stint on a busy medical helicopter. I worked in disaster medicine, and was the associate director of a Harvard-affiliated disaster medicine fellowship in Boston. My current practice is as a nurse practitioner in a busy suburban emergency department (ED) and I am still active in emergency medical services as a SWAT medic and as an educator.

The emergency part of what I do is the exciting part —the part that stimulates the excitatory neurotransmitters that flood the brain, preparing it to act quickly and concisely.

We are selling ourselves short, however, when we label this role as “emergency” providers. Instead, “public health provider” is a much more appropriate term to use, because emergency departments and those who provide care there are really public health workers.

All of us who practice in emergency medicine know that real emergencies are few and far between. Our day-to-day is much more mundane. We deal with many urgent issues as well as some less urgent, primary care problems. We may even spend time filling printer paper or bringing a patient their lunch. We may help to find someone a homeless shelter, send a family home with warm coats for the kids, or pack up a bag with food and toiletries for a young girl we feel is being trafficked.

In light of all this, the purpose and the policies of the emergency department need to be redefined. Read More

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Climate Change is Harming Health and the Treatment is Medicine, Law, and Bioethics

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Renee N. Salas

The flurry of media around recent climate change reports may have left your head spinning. These were all released in anticipation of the United Nation’s 24th Convention of the Party (COP24), in follow-up to the Paris Agreement, where the actual nuts and bolts of achieving this historic public health commitment was to be ironed out.

There are two key messages from these reports for the United States. First, climate change is human caused, happening today, and is worse than predicted. Second, climate change is harming the health of Americans now.

As an emergency medicine doctor, telling a patient a diagnosis is something I do frequently. Thus, if America were my patient, I would say that while the health diagnosis of climate change is grave, there is reason to be optimistic — because treatment exists. That treatment is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and switching from fossil fuels to solar and wind.

To achieve this treatment in our current political environment, we need historic teamwork that involves every discipline. This includes medicine, law, and bioethics joining together in novel collaborations that work to improve health and save lives.

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Administration’s Guidance on State Innovation Waivers under the ACA Violates the Act’s Statutory Guardrails

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Joel McElvain

This post was originally published on Take Care. 

The Affordable Care Act reformed the individual health insurance market to protect persons with pre-existing conditions. Insurers who participate in this market must sell plans with a standard set of comprehensive benefits, and may not deny coverage to, or impose higher premiums on, persons with pre-existing conditions.

Through legislative, regulatory, and litigation efforts, the Trump Administration has sought to depart from the ACA’s regime to allow the sale of plans that are medically-underwritten, offer more limited health benefits, or both.

The Administration’s latest such effort comes in the form of guidance by the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services that adopts a broader reading of the Act’s provision for state innovation waivers. Read More

Road sign that reads "Attention Ebola"

Ebola… again: What have we learned?

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Alicia Ely Yamin

As Susan Sontag eloquently noted decades ago, illness conjures metaphors that reveal a great deal about how we think about, and, in turn, address them. None more so than the lethal Ebola, which monstrously disfigures bodies before killing the infected person and spreading rapidly through the routines of everyday life.

In the West, Ebola evokes images of illness as a deadly foreign invasion, while in the West African pandemic we know that first those who were afflicted—and later those who survived—were stigmatized as possessing demons.

The growing outbreak in the DRC has produced calls for greater physical and financial involvement from the US government by a number of health law scholars, citing the potential for exponential spread if it reaches highly populated areas, and underscoring it as a global health security issue.  Thus far, WHO’s Director General has not declared it a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC), which triggers consideration of both trade and travel restrictions, as well as international assistance and under the International Health Regulations. Read More