Peter D. Jacobson

In addressing questions regarding executive decision-making, we use the following general approach. Michigan’s Public Health Code grants public health officials considerable discretion to protect the public against communicable disease and environmental health threats. To exercise their broad grant of authority, the executive must ask three key questions: Can I? Must I? Should I?

This handbook explores the Flint Registry team’s specific experiences and challenges navigating federal and Michigan data laws. Nevertheless, many aspects of the Flint Registry experience can be generalized to guide other entities seeking to establish public health registries.

After thousands of Flint, Michigan, residents were exposed to lead during the 2014-15 Flint water crisis, the community came together to create the Flint Registry to monitor community health, connect people to services, and promote an understanding of how the water crisis affected the community. Establishing the Flint Registry required a team of community members and experts and involved myriad operational and legal issues. This webinar will examine the process involved in establishing and operating a community-based non-governmental environmental exposure registry. The presenters will share a legal handbook to guide other communities wishing to establish non-governmental public health registries.

Following the development and authorization of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, the Biden administration enacted a series of vaccine mandates in 2021. The most significant of these mandates applied to (1) federal workers and contractors, (2) large employers, and (3) health care workers.

by Overview 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET | July 29, 2021While the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health policy remains…

Requiring mask-wearing and maintaining social distancing are no more intrusive than restrictions citizens already experience, including use of seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, and DUI laws. Just as significant, these orders are designed to protect others from harm. 

by Overview A county health department contacted the Network for guidance on whether the department could prohibit the recording of video and/or photography…

In this Q&A, Denise Chrysler, director and Peter Jacobson, co-director, of the Network’s Mid-States Region Office, discuss some of the key elements in the chapter they co-authored, Executive Decision Making for COVID-19: Public Health Science through a Political Lens, for the Report.

By temperament, I’m generally an aggressive interpreter of state public health codes. In normal times, I argue for an expansive interpretation of health officers’ authority to protect the public’s health. But these are not normal times. A non-trivial portion of the public believes the coronavirus is a hoax and mask-wearing mandates are tyrannical. One result of this resistance is that public health officials have been attacked and threatened for issuing or enforcing COVID-19 mask-wearing or stay-at-home orders. Health officers cannot ignore the potential threats to their personal safety. Depending on the local political environment, some caution is called for—caution, not acquiescence.

A county health department seeks guidance on whether the department can issue a press release indicating that individuals who attended a party on a specific date at a specific address may have been exposed to COVID-19.

A county health department seeks guidance on whether the department can issue a press release indicating that individuals who attended a party on a specific date at a specific address may have been exposed to COVID-19. As explained in detail below, there are no legal barriers to issuing the proposed press release. Instead, this is a policy question within the health department’s discretion.

A public health physician is seeking clarification of his/her duties in light of Michigan Governor Whitmer’s Emergency Declaration (Executive Order 2020-104) to increase COVID-19 testing. Does testing for COVID-19 establish a physician-patient duty to patients for whom a physician orders or conducts a test? Is it legally permissible to order these tests when no assessment is made on the tested patients? As explained in detail below, the answer to the first question is that Michigan law imposes a limited duty, but with immunity from personal liability. The answer to the second question is yes.