News & Insights

This week, New York City declared a public health emergency in response to a measles outbreak which has infected hundreds of residents, mostly children. The emergency declaration includes an order for mandatory MMR vaccinations affecting residents in select areas of Williamsburg and Brooklyn where most of the existing infections have arisen. Some see the order as an unusual exercise of public health authority. Our FAQ breaks down the key components of the mandate and the legal requirements.

There are distinct differences in how U.S. laws do (or don’t) protect individuals from drinking water contamination. While a landmark federal law, the Safe Drinking Water Act, generally protects individuals who use a public water supply from exposure to unsafe levels of regulated contaminants, there is no similar protection for the approximately 45 million U.S. residents who rely on private wells for water. This gap in regulatory oversight increasingly burdens rural households, where the risk of exposure to nitrate contaminates is highest.

President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to authorize and fund the construction of a border wall along the U.S. southern border prompted an unprecedented response from Congress, which then passed a resolution to terminate the declaration. Ongoing politicization and forthcoming statutory amendments or court decisions may fundamentally change the scope of national emergencies in the future.

The increase in drug-related harm that began over two decades ago continues to impact individuals and communities across the country. Partly due to this unprecedented and continuing rise in overdose-related harm, states and communities have taken a number of legal and policy steps to improve access to prevention and treatment. This post provides a few highlights, in no particular order.

In February, the Network’s Eastern Region Office hosted a day-long event with leaders, policymakers and practitioners to examine key challenges facing the public health community. Issues discussed included immigrant health; the impact of preemption on public health; same sex domestic violence protections; marijuana advertising regulations; and Congressional public health priorities.

Public health law and policy stories that made headlines recently include proposed legislation in Hawaii to ban cigarettes; the Trump administration’s campaign to end HIV; rising maternal mortality rates; legislation in Utah that reduces a Medicaid expansion previously approved by voters; research on the effectiveness of soda taxes; and how some parents are circumventing vaccine laws.

School food sharing tables (FSTs), where students can place uneaten food for other students to consume, help reduce food waste and food insecurity among children and adolescents. School district officials contacted the Network to determine whether FSTs would affect their federal reimbursed for meals.

In this Q & A, Heather McCabe, JD, MSW, Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Social Work and Colleen Healy Boufides, J.D., Senior Attorney, Network for Public Health Law Mid-States Region Office comment on some of the key issues addressed in their legal brief, “Legal Considerations for Community Health Workers and their Employers.”

With the cost of care in the United States skyrocketing and millions of individuals struggling to access care at all, policymakers must consider new ways to get patients in front of providers at a lower cost. One way in which states have taken action is through scope of practice expansions for health professionals.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) was last modified in 2012 by the Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, which established nutrition standards for school meals consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The USDA has announced that it will soon implement less stringent standards for school lunch nutrition regarding the requirements for whole grains, sodium, and milk.

In 2019, the Network for Public Health Law will be sharing stories of innovative, collaborative projects and initiatives aimed at improving the health of communities. These projects and initiatives are, at their core, strong collaborations between those who work in health, law, policy, philanthropy, advocacy and other sectors.

Gubernatorial executive orders and directives can serve as powerful tools for furthering public health goals. In addition to directing public health agency activities, establishing policies and priorities, and responding to emergencies, executive orders or directives can also play a role in shaping agency culture to promote effective public health decision-making.