HHS/CDC Legal Response to SARS Outbreak

Before the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) legal authority to apprehend, detain, or conditionally release persons was limited to seven listed diseases, not including SARS, and could only be changed using a two-step process: 1) executive order of the President of the United States on recommendation by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and 2) amendment to CDC quarantine regulations (42 CFR Parts 70 and 71). In April 2003, in response to the SARS outbreak, the federal executive branch acted rapidly to add SARS to the list of quarantinable communicable diseases. At the same time, HHS amended the regulations to streamline the process of adding future emerging infectious diseases. Since the emergence of SARS, CDC has increased legal preparedness for future public health emergencies by establishing a multistate teleconference program for public health lawyers and a Web-based clearinghouse of legal documents

The CDC¿s Communicable Disease Regulations: Striking the Balance Between Public Health & Individual Rights

On January 19, 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule to update regulations administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relating to the control of communicable diseases at 42 C.F.R part 70 (interstate) and part 71 (foreign). The final rule significantly enhances the CDC¿s previous regulations that were largely silent regarding procedures for federal isolation, quarantine, and conditional release, and thus lacked transparency regarding the rights and remedies of individuals subject to these actions. The newly revised communicable disease regulations are consistent with the CDC¿s governing statutory authority, principles of federalism, and constitutional protections afforded to individuals under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. This Article provides an overview of the newly revised regulations and explains how these regulations are designed to protect the public¿s health while safeguarding the constitutional rights of individuals subject to federal public health actions

Panel II: The Widening Gap: Identifying Causative Issues in Public Health Emergencies

PANEL II: The Widening Gap: Identifying Causative Issues in Public Health Emergencies Mary Holland, Research Scholar and Director, Graduate Lawyering Program, New York University School of Law James M. Hughes, MD, Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Emory University School of Medicine James Misrahi, Attorney, Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Polly J. Price, Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Law, Professor of Global Health, Emory University School of Law Moderator: Joanna Stettner, Senior Attorney, Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division, Centers for Disease Control and Preventio

Panel II: The Widening Gap: Identifying Causative Issues in Public Health Emergencies

PANEL II: The Widening Gap: Identifying Causative Issues in Public Health Emergencies Mary Holland, Research Scholar and Director, Graduate Lawyering Program, New York University School of Law James M. Hughes, MD, Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Emory University School of Medicine James Misrahi, Attorney, Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Polly J. Price, Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Law, Professor of Global Health, Emory University School of Law Moderator: Joanna Stettner, Senior Attorney, Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division, Centers for Disease Control and Preventio

10 Legal Authorities for Interventions During Public Health Emergencies

Every imaginable threat from civil suits to cold-blooded murder when they got an opportunity to commit it, was made by the writhing, cursing, struggling tramps who where operated upon, and a lot of them had to be held down in their cots, one big policeman sitting on their legs, and another on their heads, while the third held the arms, bared for the doctors. Account of the 1901–1903 smallpox epidemic in Boston 1 The public health measures used to control the 1901–1903 outbreak of smallpox in Boston, as reflected in the media account quoted above, no doubt appear draconian to a modern-day public health officer. Recently, however, public health officers, academics, and government policy makers, motivated by concerns about the threat of bioterrorism, have questioned whether the intentional release of a biologic agent such as smallpox would necessitate a return to such coercive public health measures as compulsory vaccinations. Such concerns have been highlighted by recent events surrounding the unprecedented terrorist attack

100th Anniversary of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Prevention and Control of Communicable Disease Then and Now

2018 marked the 100th anniversary of one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in recorded history. Influenza infected an estimated one-third of the world\u27s population and claimed over 500,000 lives in the United States and at least 50 million worldwide. Panelists examined the factors contributing to the historical event and succeeding outbreaks, and the role of state and federal agencies and laws in preventing, controlling and mitigating future communicable disease emergencies

100th Anniversary of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Prevention and Control of Communicable Disease Then and Now

2018 marked the 100th anniversary of one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in recorded history. Influenza infected an estimated one-third of the world\u27s population and claimed over 500,000 lives in the United States and at least 50 million worldwide. Panelists examined the factors contributing to the historical event and succeeding outbreaks, and the role of state and federal agencies and laws in preventing, controlling and mitigating future communicable disease emergencies