Category: Public Health

Person examining psilocybin mushrooms in lab.

When the Promises of a Policy Do Not Meet the Reality of Its Practice: Ethical Issues Within Oregon’s Measure 109

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Tahlia Harrison

As a practicing therapist in Oregon working with complex trauma survivors, I was optimistic at first about the passage in 2020 of Measure 109 and its promise of legalizing psilocybin-assisted therapy. Psilocybin has been shown in small samples to be an effective intervention for many challenges my clients face; I was excited about this option to further support their healing. As a bioethicist and researcher examining topics related to psychedelic-assisted therapy, and a former faculty member at one of the psilocybin facilitation programs, Measure 109 also brought feelings of trepidation and a flood of questions such as: Would my national associations be amenable to this intervention? Would my liability insurance provide coverage? What about the ethics of engaging clients in a treatment involving a federally illegal substance? What about informed consent and other ethical issues? While the current informed consent form used by facilitators does address some aspects of concern (like the use of touch, 333-333-5040 (9)), it does not address other aspects like suggestibility or power dynamics within the facilitator/client relationship. Additionally, the form states “I understand that psilocybin services do not require medical diagnosis or referral and that psilocybin services are not a medical or clinical treatment,” yet it is reported that many are still seeking this as part of treatment for a medical diagnosis. How do multiple licensures apply to understanding scope of practice? Three years later, many of these questions remain unanswered, and the option of offering psilocybin-assisted therapy remains illegal and off the table.

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People running on treadmills in a gym.

WHOOP and the IRS: How Tax Avoidance Helps Health

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By Bobby Stroup

On December 19, WHOOP announced their flagship product (bearing the same name as the company) is now eligible for FSA and HSA spending. This news means customers might use tax deductions to purchase the “wearable” wellness device. Effectively, courtesy of Uncle Sam, Americans can now save money on trying to be like Michael Phelps and Colleen Quigley.

More than merely a discount on a fitness band, this announcement highlights larger issues within federal policymaking. The article here explores how the complexities of the tax code are intertwined with American health care.

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Gavel and stethoscope.

Eight Opportunities to Use the Law to Address Social Determinants of Health

Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research Leave a comment

By Jon Larsen and Sterling Johnson

Addressing the opioid crisis cannot stop at providing better access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), expanding and enhancing harm reduction efforts, and reimagining the role of law enforcement, as explored previously in this blog series. The response must go further to make treatment and harm reduction more effective, by acknowledging the opioid epidemic as a reflection of the conditions of the whole society, identifying those conditions, and addressing them head-on. A whole-person response to OUD and other substance use disorders needs a well-coordinated whole-of-government response to address myriad societal issues that are critical to effective drug treatment, including, but not limited to, housing, education, economic development, and tax policy.   

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Colorful vitamins, pills and tablets on green background.

History Rhymes with the Psychedelic Boom

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By David Herzberg

As a historian of psychoactive pharmaceuticals in the 20th century U.S., I see history rhyming in potentially dangerous ways in the current psychedelic boom. After decades of being associated with insanity, violence, and social disorder, psychedelics are now being embraced as potential wonder drugs. What appears to be a radical, 180-degree shift in reputation, however, masks an underlying similarity: both of these mirror-image stories belong to the mythologies of the consumer culture, which attribute broad transformational power to individual acts of consumption. Seeing drugs through this mythological lens prevents us from accessing their potential benefits, while exposing us to the real possibility that they could make things worse.

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. Group of pregnant women and women with children. Vector illustration

#MaternalHealthAwarenessDay: Three Policies to Push

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By Joelle Boxer

Today is Maternal Health Awareness Day, focused on the theme “Access in Crisis.”

“Crisis” is the right word, yet still an understatement. In the U.S., for every 100,000 live births in 2021, nearly 33 pregnant people lost their lives. In Norway, that number was 2. Black and Native American women in the U.S. are particularly at risk, with death rates 2-3 times higher than those of white women, due to structural racism.

What can the law do to prevent these deaths? Medicaid pays for more than 40% of births in the U.S., covering 64% of Black mothers and 66% of Native American mothers. Examining efforts at the federal and state level, I highlight three options, leveraging Medicaid as a policy lever.

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scales on blue background.

Conclusion to the Symposium: From Principles to Practice: Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Timothy Fish Hodgson, Roojin Habibi, and Alicia Ely Yamin

In developing the digital symposium, From Principles to Practice: Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies (which ran from October – December 2023), as editors we endeavored to get scholars, human rights advocates, judges, and policy makers to engage critically with the expert Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies (the PHE Principles), published by the International Commission of Jurists and the Global Health Law Consortium in May 2023. In doing so, we encouraged contributors to comment on the Principles’ potential usefulness as guidance in addressing real emergency situations, as well as any possible gaps and weaknesses.

While summarizing the entire content of the 13 blogs comprising this symposium in any depth is not possible here, this concluding post will attempt to synthesize some of the major inputs from the contributions. We also provide some of our own observations, as participants in the drafting of the Principles, with the aim of pushing the discussion prompted by the posts forward.

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Rows of gold post office boxes with one open mail box.

Plan to See ‘Plan C’ This Year

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By Joelle Boxer

Tracy Droz Tragos’ new documentary, “Plan C,” follows the work of a grassroots organization dedicated to improving access to the abortion pill by mail in the U.S., while navigating an increasingly restrictive legal landscape.

There is no better time to hear the perspectives of these patients, providers, and activists. Just last month, the U.S. Supreme Court took on a case to determine the legal status of the pill, also called mifepristone. With a decision expected in June 2024, Tragos’ film shows us what’s at stake.

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Disposable syringe isolated on black background.

Six Opportunities to Use the Law to Support Harm Reduction

Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research Leave a comment

By Jon Larsen and Sterling Johnson

Harm reduction in the context of the opioid crisis is focused on preventing overdose and infectious disease transmission by working with people who use drugs without moral judgment. Far too often, the public health imperative of harm reduction is blocked by federal policy, state laws, and other structural barriers anchored in the “war on drugs” that reduce the effectiveness of harm reduction efforts. To maximize the potential of harm reduction requires a whole-of-government approach, involving coordination across levels of government. 

As noted in this recent report, “Bringing the W-G approach to bear on a complex problem depends on several components, including agreement as to the problem, understanding the problem, and the causes of the problem. For many involved in government at all levels, the harm reduction challenge unfortunately falls at the first of those hurdles.”

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Clockwise from top left: Daniela Cepeda Cuadrado, Lucía Berro Pizzarossa, Natalia Pires de Vasconcelos, Thalia Viveros Uehara

Introducing the Global Health and Rights Project’s New Affiliated Researchers

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment
(Clockwise from top left: Daniela Cepeda Cuadrado, Lucía Berro Pizzarossa, Natalia Pires de Vasconcelos, Thalia Viveros Uehara)

The Petrie-Flom Center is excited to welcome four new affiliated researchers to the Global Health and Rights Project (GHRP).

Through regular contributions to Bill of Health, as well as workshops and other projects, GHRP affiliated researchers will bring their expertise to bear on both national and global problems, advancing critical socio-legal scholarship both within and beyond Latin America. We look forward to learning from and sharing their insights with a wider audience, and to contributing to enlarging international networks of critical praxis in global health and human rights.

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football on field

The NCAA May Pay a Healthy Sum to Student Athletes

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By Bobby Stroup

Right now in a Los Angeles courtroom, the fate of the NCAA hangs in the balance. Perhaps as a way to preempt the outcome, on December 6, NCAA President Charlie Baker sent a letter proposing some schools should be allowed to compensate student athletes for using their name, image and likeness (NIL). President Baker is right to try and get ahead of the student-athlete compensation issue, but NIL payments are not the only issue at play. Health care will also be a critical part of future student-athlete compensation conversations.

The NCAA describes the compensation lawsuits as beginning in 2009, yet exploring this topic reveals the debate is not so novel. The NIL terminology is newer, but limiting this to an NIL problem is overly narrow. The challenge of student-athlete compensation is a broader issue that started at the founding of the organization. This issue is rooted in more than a century of health policy, and understanding that history is essential to understanding future NCAA negotiations.

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