Guidance

Access to Treatment for Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder

GuidanceHarm Reduction Legal Project ResourcesOpioid Misuse and Overdose Prevention

April 21, 2021
by Amy Lieberman and Corey Davis

The Network has joined with public health law partners to produce a new report, COVID-19 Policy Playbook: Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future, examining policy challenges and opportunities in light of the pandemic. In this Q&A, the Network’s Corey Davis and Amy Lieberman discuss some of the key elements in the chapter they co-authored for the report including the positive impact of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, recent changes to increase access to that treatment, and recommendations for permanently reducing legislative and regulatory barriers to effective, evidence-based interventions for OUD.

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Issuing a COVID-19 Press Release That Identifies a Specific Location

GuidanceHealth Data Sharing and Privacy

August 14, 2020
by Peter D. Jacobson

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.

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Physician Liability for COVID-19 Testing

GuidanceHealth Data Sharing and Privacy

August 14, 2020
by Peter D. Jacobson

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.

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State Legal Authority to Investigate the Spread of Communicable Disease

GuidanceEmergency Legal Preparedness and ResponseEmergency ResponseHealth Data Sharing and Privacy

May 5, 2020
by Colleen Healy Boufides

Many states grant broad legal authority to local health departments to investigate the causes and spread of communicable diseases. These powers are often contained in the state’s public health code and communicable disease rules. This guidance provide information on which provisions of state law a local health department can cite to compel sharing of information needed for a communicable disease investigation.

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