Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Elizabeth A. Weeks, JD, School of Law, University of Kansas, Green Hall, 1535 West 15th St., Lawrence, KS 66045, (785) 864-4550, eweeks@ku.edu

Personal injury litigation, or tort law, traditionally, has been viewed as antithetical to the goals of public health. The focus on individual compensation for injuries resulting from accidents, products, and international wrongdoing arguably does not serve the “greater good” or communitarian objectives of public health. My presentation will take issue with the traditional view and will demonstrate ways that personal injury litigation and public health objectives may be complimentary and mutually reinforcing. Some areas of tort law, such as mass torts against tobacco companies, toxic polluters, gun manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and producers of dangerous chemicals, such as Agent Orange and asbestos, directly serve the public interest by sending a message to those defendants that public health and safety demand safer products. In addition, policy objectives underlying torts include not only compensating injured victims though an award of monetary damages but also loss-spreading, risk-allocation, and informal regulation of safety standards and norms. Moreover, utilitarian objectives serve the public good by addressing scarce resource allocation and assigning fault to the party best able to reduce the risk and bear the loss. My talk will illustrate those points through specific examples in historical and recent case law and insight into the cultural background and judicial philosophy behind the decisions. Through my presentation, I will challenge panel attendees to change their perception of, and perhaps hostility toward, tort law as undermining public health objective. This changed focus has important policy implications for tort reform, public health regulation, and health care delivery.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and compare public health and tort law policy objectives
• Describe specific tort law decisions, priciples, and concepts illustrating those underlying policies
• Describe specific public health law strategies, laws, and initiatives illustrating underlying policies
• Compare policies of the two fields to identify conflicting as well as complimentary objectives
• Propose opportunities for collaboration and legal developments in both fields to reduce traditional antagonistic relationship

Keywords: Legislative, Public Health Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation