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Public Health Law & Policy

Public Health Law & Policy - Professor Michele Okoh

Course Number: LAW-453
Course Type: Highly Specialized
Credits: 3
Enrollment Limit: Determined by the Registrar

Description: This seminar will explore the legal and ethical tensions between the responsibility of governments (federal, state, local) to promote and protect the health of the public and their obligation to ensure individual rights. Typical public health law areas will be analyzed, such as food and drug safety, disease and injury prevention (clean needle exchanges, obesity and nutrition, regulation of tobacco and alcohol), required immunizations, mandatory testing and treatment, mandatory reporting/surveillance of injury and disease, and “social distancing” (isolation and quarantine). Constitutional and statutory powers, the administrative processes/mechanisms for carrying out these powers, as well as the regulatory origins of public health policy will be examined.

Prerequisite: none
Evaluation Method: Papers, class participation, and paper presentation
Capstone: yes, with professor permission
WIE: yes

The American Bar Association accreditation standards require students to regularly attend the courses in which they are registered. Lewis & Clark expects students to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes conscientiously. Specific attendance requirements may vary from course to course. Any attendance guidelines for a given class must be provided to students in a syllabus or other written document at the start of the semester. Sanctions (e.g., required withdrawal from the course, grade adjustment, and/or a failing grade) will be imposed for poor attendance.