News & Insights

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. In 2016 alone there were close to 45,000 deaths from suicide, roughly one death every 12 minutes. In an effort to better measure the full impact of this significant public health issue, many jurisdictions require mandatory reporting of both suicides and attempted suicides. A health officer whose state was considering mandatory reporting of attempted suicides recently contacted the Network for assistance in finding examples of other states or jurisdictions where such mandatory reporting is required.

Some of the public health law and policy stories that made headlines recently include statewide initiatives to combat premature births, the midterm elections and Medicaid expansion, childhood trauma as a public health crisis, FDA crackdown on menthol in tobacco, and changes to the SNAP program.

States are encouraged to use Medicaid-managed care for coverage of non-health services that can impact the social determinants of health. Some states have used special waivers available under this option to pilot innovative new programs.

Recently, a federal district court in Connecticut diverged from precedent to rule for an employee whose medical cannabis use resulted in a blatant rescission of a prospective job offer. According to the court in Noffsinger v. SSC Niantic Operating Co., d/b/a Bride Brook Nursing & Rehab. Ctr. (Bride Brook), Connecticut’s legal protections from discrimination for employees lawfully using medical cannabis are not barred by contrary federal legal provisions. The holding differs from prior state court decisions finding that employers generally have no duty to accommodate medical cannabis patients.

Many states allow for license suspension for non-payment of fees and fines for traffic offenses. These suspensions often have significant health impacts, some of which seem obvious—people need transportation to access medical care. But a closer look reveals a plethora of other negative consequences that impact public health.

The Violence Against Women Act is highly regarded as the first piece of federal legislation to recognize the criminal nature of domestic violence and sexual assault. The law was set to expire on September 30, 2018 and its future uncertain.

Medical-legal Partnerships (MLPs) integrate lawyers into health care settings to assist with patient care by addressing structural problems that impact health. As a result, MLPs help identify ways in which laws harm population health and perpetuate health disparities.

Recently passed resolutions in the House and Senate recognize the importance, effectiveness and need for trauma-informed care. The resolutions cite examples of trauma informed practices, programs and policies implemented, many from local communities with some involving a legal component.

The Healthy People 2020 Law and Health Policy project released the first of a series of reports and products this month, highlighting ways law and policy can support healthy eating across the lifespan, focusing on three areas crucial to health equity: access, affordability, and demand for healthy foods.

Over the past several months, in the lead-up to our 2018 Public Health Law Conference, we asked Network members and friends what health justice means to you. Your insights, along with a survey of the legal and policy issues impacting health equity, informed the strong and diverse programming for the more than 40 sessions organized for the conference.

The World Health Organization points to low immunization as a major factor in a measles outbreak in Europe with over 41,000 cases so far in 2018. Given that most of the measles cases in the U.S. result from unvaccinated individuals who contract the disease in other countries, this outbreak is concerning in light of declining U.S. vaccination rates.

Recently passed resolutions in the House and Senate recognize the importance, effectiveness and need for trauma-informed care. The resolutions cite examples of trauma informed practices, programs and policies implemented, many from local communities with some involving a legal component.