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Editor: Linda Leibfarth
Faculty Advisor: James F. Blumstein, Director, Center for Health Policy

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This eNewsletter is published by the Health Law Society, a student organization at Vanderbilt University Law School, in conjunction with the Center for Health Policy of the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies at Vanderbilt University.

The Regulation of DDT: A Choice Between Evils

Every thirty seconds, a child dies from malaria. And while children are most susceptible, they are not its only victims. Indeed, the disease kills approximately one to two million people per year and infects another 650-750 million across the world. In 1995, it affected more than forty percent of the world’s population. Malaria is as fatal as it is pervasive, second only to the HIV/AIDS pandemic among infectious diseases in deadliness...

Doctor-Patient Confidentiality and the Duty to Warn At-Risk Relatives of Genetic Conditions

The mapping of the last of the twenty-four chromosomes that make up human DNA was completed in May of 2006. Now that scientists in laboratories better understand the biological factors that cause disease, they can develop genetic tests to be used clinically. The results of these tests are somewhat unique in that the results may reveal information about a relative’s risk of acquiring the disease as well as the risk of the tested patient...

Health Law Specialty Courts?

The cost of health care in the United States is now estimated at $1.9 trillion per year and is rising annually at 8%. Although current increases in health care expenses are the result of a number of factors, some reformers have looked towards the adjudication of medical malpractice cases as one area capable of reform that would not result in lowering the quality of care or preventing compensation of injured patients...

No Ban, for Now – Feds and States Regulate Specialty Hospitals

For several years physician-owned specialty hospitals have attracted criticism from Congressional leaders, among others. The underlying reason for concern is the conflict of interest present when doctors refer their patients to facilities in which they have a financial interest. Critics worry that these specialty hospitals incentivize unnecessary procedures and siphon off the most profitable patients from community hospitals...

Qui Tam Lawsuits Against the Pharmaceutical Industry

As of January 1, 2006, Medicare Part D subsidizes the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. The federal government anticipates a major increase in its spending because historically Medicaid has been the sole government funded provider of prescription drugs. Due to the increase in prescription drug spending, the government will be on the watch for fraudulent activity in the pharmaceutical industry...