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133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
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Back to Annual Meeting Page
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133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA |
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3078.2: Monday, December 12, 2005: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM | |||
Oral | |||
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| In the wake of the governmental responses to Hurricane Katrina and Rita, as well as in every major field or table top exercise testing the readiness of the public health community to deal with catastrophic health emergencies, legal questions about the ability to respond to the crisis abound. 1. Which branch of government -local, state, or federal - will be in charge of the response? 2. What if there is disagreement between various branches of government about how to respond to the emergency? 3. Are there liability issues for public health faculties and personnel treating patients? 4. Will patients injured by countermeasures receive adequate compensation? 5. Can medications and supplies be obtained without resort to cumbersome procurement processes? 6. Can quarantines or isolation be imposed without infringing on civil liberties? 7. Can citizens be compelled to undergo physical examinations or treatment? 8. Can medical personnel be compelled to provide services even in the face of treating highly infectious patients? 9. How will scare medical supplies be rationed? 10. Can arrests be made of citizens simply because they appear to be posing a danger to public health even if there is no criminal activity? 11. Can interstate traffic be interdicted because of a fear of spreading the contagion? 12. Whether faced with a real public health crisis or with preparedness exercises, these kinds of legal questions seem to the public health community almost paralyzing in their complexity. | |||
| Learning Objectives: It is the purpose of this panel to outline the various sources of law directed towards these and other critical legal issues, and to begin to frame answers to these questions. It is also the panel’s purpose to identify ways of ensuring that every pubic health facility, where public or private or whether large or small, can assure itself of having adequate legal representation to answer difficult legal questions as they arise during a public health emergency. | |||
| Michael Greenberger, JD Myles V. Lynk, JD | |||
| Virginia A. Caine, MD | |||
| The legal framework for responding to catastrophic public health emergencies | |||
| See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information. | |||
| Organized by: | APHA | ||
The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA