Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at BU School of Public Health

First 100 Days of Health Policy

Join us online on March 11th at 1 PM for a discussion on the first 100 days of President Biden’s term: Executive Orders, proposed bills, and other steps to tackle COVID, climate, and economic crises affecting health. What has happened? What comes next?

Speakers: Professors George Annas, Nicole Huberfeld, Wendy Mariner & Michael Ulrich

Info ➡️ https://bit.ly/37Jd4na

Join the faculty of the Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights in a conversation celebrating Human Rights Day.

See the Universal Declaration of Human Rights here:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf

Date: Thursday, December 10th
Time: 1:30 – 2:00 PM
Location: Zoom Meeting
https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/94132512133?pwd=dFQ1TEpCRytTVDNDVGtnaWFmQ0xHZz09
Meeting ID: 941 3251 2133
Passcode: 531851

Professor George Annas & Dr. Sondra Crosby co-wrote "US military medical ethics in the War on Terror" recently published in the BMJ's Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps. To obtain full article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jramc-2018-001062

For the pdf documents on the on the Defense Health Board’s Ethical Guidelines and Practices for U.S. Military Medical Professionals, please find it here: https://glp.org/2019/01/25/bmjinvited-review-us-military-medical-ethics-in-the-war-on-terror/

US military medical ethics in the War on Terror Military medical ethics has been challenged by the post-11 September 2001 ‘ War on Terror ’. Two recurrent questions are whether military physicians are officers first or physicians first, and whether military physicians need a separate code of ethics. In this article, we focus on how the War on...

This morning the Boston University School of Public Health CLER faculty, staff, and MPH students had an exciting time at the Health Law Advocates' 23rd Annual Benefit Breakfast. We had the pleasure of meeting BUSPH alumni and MA Health & Human Services Secretary, Marylou Sudders! We also had the opportunity to meet Rep. Kay Khan of Newton, MA and Exec. Director of Boston Public Health Commission, Monica Valdes Lupi, JD, MPH!

This week, The Boston Globe interviewed Professors Wendy Mariner and Nicole Huberfeld for their thoughts on the Texas judge’s ruling late last week to throw out the Affordable Care Act. Here's what each professor had to say:

Prof. Mariner said that “The court [says] if the individual mandate is unconstitutional, then the entire Affordable Care Act must fail, because we can’t see how anything could work without the requirement to have insurance.” Read more here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/12/17/mass-not-immune-ripple-effect-health-care-law-ruling/w1o8IKy1YSSTtt1vKVmYyN/story.html

Prof. Huberfeld said O’Connor was wrong to build an unbreakable bond between each and every section of the ACA. In fact, it is a “severable” statute — that is, if one portion of law is flawed that does not automatically mean other parts must fail, too, she said. “The judge’s conclusion that the law is not ‘severable’ and thus the entire law must fail is not defensible,’’ she wrote in an e-mail to the Globe. “The claim was frivolous, and the decision is, too.” Read more here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/12/18/here-why-experts-say-judge-obamacare-case-went-too-far/6SQIXI6l88OznBAjUaDahI/story.html

Happy International Human Rights Day & the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights! Thank you to all who had attended and celebrated with the Center and its faculty and staff. We had a stimulating discussion on hate crimes, hate speech, and the recent surge of antisemitism at the Boston University School of Public Health. We look forward to celebrating it with you all again next year!

This week, BU Today's POV section featured George Annas' opinion page titled "How Did Claims of CRISPR Babies Hijack an International Gene-Editing Summit?

To read the full op-ed, please visit:

BU Today [POV]: How Did Claims of CRISPR Babies Hijack an International Gene-Editing Summit? Written By George Annas How is it consistent with either science or ethics to permit a conference on human gene editing to be hijacked by a rogue researcher who is unwilling (or unable) to present …

The Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights will be celebrating the Human Rights Day and the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Professor Michael A. Grodin will be leading the discussion on hate speech and hate crimes. Food will be provided. All are welcome to attend. We hope to see you there!

RSVP by 5PM on Wed, 12/5: https://goo.gl/forms/eWUk70BAAvigoti12

In Mid-October, Austin Water officials discussed issuing "a boil water notice in the wake of floods that gummed up water treatment plants with sediment, they had to make a decision: How long should Austinites be told to boil their water?"

The phrase “abundance of caution” is “meaningless and contentless and is used to replace an actual rationale for a public health decision,” said George Annas, Professor at BU School of Public Health and Director for the Center for Health Law, Ethics, and Human Rights. “It should be retired as a way to let public officials off the hook of actually making a decision,” Annas said of the phrase.

For the entire article:

Was Austin's 3-minute boil water notice overkill? As Austin Water officials huddled in mid-October to issue a boil water notice in the wake of floods that gummed up water treatment plants with sediment,

Last Saturday, eleven Jewish Worshipers were murdered in their synagogue in an act of antisemitic violence.

Please join the Center for Health Law, Ethics, and Human Rights for an informal discussion TODAY, 10/30 at 1-2PM in L-112 (Instructional Building) on perpetrators, bystanders and rescuers and what we can do to enhance good over evil led by Professor Michael Grodin. This is an open conversation in an attempt to understand this event and identify courses of action. The event link is here: http://www.bu.edu/sph/calendar/?eid=220727

We hope that you’ll be able to the join us in today’s discussion!

Please join the Center for Health Law, Ethics, & Human Rights and the Department of Health Law, Policy, & Mangement for a discussion on the 2018 midterm elections, health politics, and voting rights. All are welcome to attend. Food will be provided. RSVP by 5PM on Monday, 10/29. RSVP here: https://goo.gl/forms/KOQTEe4pVobcqWrJ3

Event: Health Politics, Voting Rights, & the 2018 Midterms
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2018
Time: 1-2PM
Location: L-112 (Instructional Building)

We hope to see you there!