Washington DC 09 20 2021. More than 600,000 white flags honor lives lost to COVID, on the National Mall. The art installation " In America: Remember" was created by Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg.

Health Law and Policy in an Era of Mass Suffering

Last spring, the United States crossed the bleak and preventable 1,000,000-death mark for lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this symposium, our hope is to acknowledge — and mourn — this current era of mass suffering and death.

In particular, we want to reckon with the role of health law and policy in shaping, and at times catalyzing, the impact that the pandemic has had on our loved ones and communities.

The symposium is edited by Chloe Reichel and Benjamin A. Barsky.

Pile of envelopes with overdue utility bills on the floor.
The Unfurling Crisis of Unfunded Isolation, Testing, and Treatment of Infectious Disease in the US
SAINT LOUIS, MO. - August 2, 2021: A protestor holds a sign reading "Evictions Are Violence" at a protest held days after the federal eviction moratorium expired.
U.S. Eviction Policy is Harming Children: The Case for Sustainable Eviction Prevention to Promote Health Equity
Barbed wire in front of blue sky.
The Struggle to Survive in the Pandemic Prison
Austin, Tx/USA - May 23, 2020: Family members of prisoners held in the state prison system demonstrate at the Governor's Mansion for their release on parole due to the danger of Covid-19 in prisons.
Federal Failures to Protect Incarcerated People During Public Health Crises
Washington, D.C. skyline with highways and monuments.
COVID-19 as Disability Interest Convergence?
3d render, abstract fantasy cloudscape on a sunny day, white clouds fly under the red gates on the blue sky. Square portal construction.
A Different Future Was Possible: Reflections on the US Pandemic Response
Empty hospital bed.
Do No Harm: A Call for Decarceration in Hospitals
A stethoscope tied around a pile of cash, with a pill bottle nearby. The pill bottle has cash and pills inside.
We Haven’t 'Learned the Lessons of COVID' Until We Remake the Political Economy of Health
Drug test strips.
Synthetic Cannabinoids and the Lack of Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Carceral Settings
scoreboard with home and guests written on it at sunset time.
A Mind Is A Terrible _____ To Waste
WASHINGTON MAY 21: Pro-choice activists rally to stop states’ abortion bans in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on May 21, 2019.
Restricting Reproductive Rights During the War on Drugs: Intersectional Regimes of Surveillance and Criminalization That Harm Us All
Bill of Health - Globe and vaccine, covid vaccine
Reclaiming Global Public Health
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 24, 2020: New York Times newspaper with "U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, An Incalculable Loss" front-page article delivered to front door in Manhattan.
Pandemic Nihilism, Social Murder, and the Banality of Evil
An armed guard surveys the grounds from the railing of a prison watchtower.
Disaster Capitalism and Health Care in Prison
US map made of many people with empty space in the center that resembles a single spiky corona virion.
The Institutionalization Missing Data Problem
cells with the doors closed at a historic Idaho prison.
The Pandemic Prison
American flag lowered to half mast in bright blue sky.
Against American Public Health Exceptionalism
Medical Hospital: Neurologist and Neurosurgeon Talk, Use Computer, Analyse Patient MRI Scan, Diagnose Brain. Brain Surgery Health Clinic Lab: Two Professional Physicians Look at CT Scan. Close-up.
Creating Brain-Forward Policies Amid a ‘Mass Deterioration Event’
2020 San Pedro California April 30: Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island prison. Half the inmates there were infected with coronavirus.
Carceral Health Care Is Designed to Fail
Bill of Health - A worker gives directions as motorists wait in lines to get the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles, covid vaccine distribution
Countercyclical Aid Is Not Enough to Fix the Broken US Approach to Public Health Financing
The White House, Washington, DC.
The Years of Magical Thinking: Pandemic Necrosecurity Under Trump and Biden
Washington DC 09 20 2021. More than 600,000 white flags honor lives lost to COVID, on the National Mall. The art installation " In America: Remember" was created by Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg.
Introduction to the Symposium: Health Law and Policy in an Era of Mass Suffering

Editor-in-Chief: Chloe Reichel

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