PUBLIC HEALTH LAW

Public Health Law

Public Health Law

Introduction

Health law, as the term is currently used, encompasses most, if not all, of the traditionally defined categories of legal theory and practice. Medical negligence (or malpractice) liability in the United States is grounded in tort law; in other countries, it is based on the contractual obligation of the physician to the patient. In some countries, such as Germany and Japan, injuries resulting from medical errors or treatment provided without consent are also addressed through criminal law.

Discussion

A great deal of modern health law is regulatory or administrative law. Most developed countries, for example, regulate the approval of drugs and devices and the prescribing of pharmaceuticals. Most license health care professionals and either license or certify health care institutions (Turnock, 2007). Most have statutes protecting the confidentiality of health information. Most also have laws requiring public health reporting and permitting constraints on individual liberty to protect the public health in some circumstances. Finally, public health insurance programs impose yet another layer of coverage and payment requirements. In some countries, such as the United States and Germany, these requirements often result in litigation.

Public policy with respect to health care generally has three primary goals: (1) making health care accessible, (2) promoting and protecting its quality, and (3) controlling its cost. Oversight of health care quality is the oldest concern of health law. Medical malpractice litigation has long aimed to deter medical error as well as compensate victims of errors. Modern medical licensure and discipline, a regulatory quality control strategy, goes back to the late nineteenth century in the United States and is ubiquitous in developed countries. Private accreditation and certification bodies carry out voluntary quality oversight programs, and federal and state regulatory programs often adopt their decisions. Regulatory bodies in the United States, Europe, and other countries also evaluate new drugs and devices to ensure that they are safe and effective before they are offered for sale (Schneider, 2006).

In the United States, access to health care is guaranteed through universal, or nearly universal, national health services or social health insurance programs. In the United States, public insurance programs cover only poor people, elderly people, and people with disabilities. Most, but far from all, of the rest of the population is covered by employmentrelated private insurance. Regulatory laws at both the state and federal levels attempt to encourage private insurance coverage, though these laws work at crosspurposes ...