Category: Law
States stiffen penalties for fentanyl, despite public health concerns
Critics argue that harsh penalties could deter those in need of help and worsen societal disparities.
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Snooping in Medical Records by Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital Security Guards Leads to $240,000 HIPAA Settlement
The information accessed included names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, addresses, certain notes related to treatment, and insurance information.
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Hospitals in Two States Denied an Abortion to a Miscarrying Patient. Investigators Say They Broke Federal Law.
After her water broke too early, Mylissa Farmer was denied abortion care at emergency rooms in Missouri and Kansas. The Biden administration says the hospitals violated federal law.
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Gun Deaths Drive Historic Spike in Child Mortality Rates
After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and COVID-19 wasn’t the reason.
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After Nashville Shooting, Democratic States Push for New Gun Restrictions
In Washington state, Democrats are expecting to enact legislation that would ban semi-automatic rifles, add a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases and allow gun manufacturers and sellers to be liable for negligent sales.
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Anti-mifepristone court decisions rely on medical misinformation about abortion and questionable legal reasoning
All the risks associated with medical abortion – and therefore the time and resources doctors must spend caring for patients – will be higher if pregnant people are compelled to have surgical abortions or to give birth.
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Texas Abortion Ruling Nears, But Blue States Aren’t Waiting to Protect Pill Access
A federal judge in Texas soon could make one of the two pills used in medication abortions harder to come by, even in blue states that support abortion rights. Officials and advocates in those states aren’t waiting for the judge to rule. They’re trying to ensure continued access to the drugs that a growing number of Americans are using to end their pregnancies at home.
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Medication abortion could get harder to obtain – or easier: There’s a new wave of post-Dobbs lawsuits on abortion pills
Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States, but there are a raft of new legal battles that may expand or limit access.
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Supreme Court Case Could Curtail Rights of Medicaid Patients
Twenty-two Republican-leaning states have urged the Supreme Court to block beneficiaries of federal safety net programs from suing. If the court agrees participants in many federal entitlement programs could lose the right to go to court when they believe a state, city or county has violated their rights in the administration of those programs.
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Health Harms of Mass Shootings Ripple Across Communities
Research shows that mass shootings lead to higher rates of depression and anxiety and higher risks for suicide among young people. They also lead to an overall decline in a community’s sense of well-being. Some studies suggest that mass shootings damage economic prospects in a community, diminishing productivity and earnings.
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Hospital Investigated for Allegedly Denying an Emergency Abortion After Patient’s Water Broke
The case involves a woman whose water broke early in her pregnancy, but the hospital refused to let doctors perform an abortion. She eventually sought medical help outside the state.
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Privacy, Stigma May Keep Workers From Using Abortion Travel Benefits
Among workers’ potential concerns are the stigma of abortion and worries that private medical information could intentionally or unintentionally leak to state authorities. Unlike health care providers and insurers,most private companies aren’t set up to handle sensitive medical information.
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When abortion at a clinic is not available, 1 in 3 pregnant people say they will do something on their own to end the pregnancy
Overall, 34% of pregnant women surveyed would definitely or probably consider doing something on their own to end their pregnancy if they couldn’t get an abortion in a clinic.
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Abortion decision cherry-picks history – when the US Constitution was ratified, women had much more autonomy over abortion decisions than during 19th century
As a medical procedure, abortion was widespread in Colonial and 18th-century America. By using more or less safe techniques, midwives and medical practitioners performed many types of operations on their patients. The woman could easily die, of course; but when she sought an abortion, no social, legal or religious force would have blocked her.
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‘A revolutionary ruling – and not just for abortion’: A Supreme Court scholar explains the impact of Dobbs
The ruling signals a massive change in how we read the Constitution, from a living reading to an original reading. The court has firmly rejected the theory of the living Constitution, which argues that the meaning of the document’s language changes as the beliefs and values of Americans change.
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