The title, Public Health Law smacks of the kind of mind numbing subject of old textbooks one runs across occasionally in used book sales at public libraries or the free book box outside of used book stores. This book is far different. It is an intelligently imagined overview of the public health system of the United States from a legal perspective that focuses on the inherent legal tensions and conflicts between collective action and individual liberty that pervade every major social issue affecting citizens. There are very few social- political issues extant in our country that fail to fall within the rubric of some aspect of public health. This book is in the nature of a survey course on the subject hitting mostly the top of waves. It provides a comprehensive overview of the legal cases affecting all aspects of public health law and represents an excellent primer for student, professionals and general readers alike.
Public Health Law is crisply written and carefully edited. Its graphs and diagrams are thoughtful and lucid. Its illustrations and discrete information boxes pleasantly break up and energize what might otherwise appear to be a daunting read. It presents an important overview of the historic and current legal tensions existing in judicial brokering of public health and liberty and property conflicts in the courts. Think of the issues confronted by public health law and public issues: smallpox, HIV/AIDS, SARS, bird flu, abortion, smoking, obesity, gun control, diabetes, access to healthcare, lethal injection, vaccinations, right to die, right to refuse treatment, wrongful birth, domestic violence, stem cell research, religious constraints on healthcare, involuntary treatment, mandatory quarantine, drug abuse, drug interdiction, drug legalization, medical marijuana, parental rights, sex education, needle exchange, cloning, sexual surrogacy, homosexual marriage, salmonella infections, natural disaster management, poverty, biological and stem cell patents, Medicare, Medicaid, FDA oversight of drugs and medical devices, local and international collaborative control of disease, mandatory seat belts, helmets, to name a few. All of the legal and constitutional concerns that arise in the context of the social resolution of the conflicting interests in addressing these issues, ultimately find their way to resolution in the courts of the United States.
Mr. Gostin provides a perceptive and sensitive overview of the legal and constitutional principles affecting the resolution of the difficult social issues of our times in a way that communicates understanding and maintains interest throughout. He traces the growth of the importance of the police power from Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) which upheld a compulsory vaccination law and the resultant confrontation, in different contexts, with a myriad of civil liberties issues. The book provides value to both the lay reader and attorneys and others engaged in the type of competing interests so aptly described at length inside.
Mr. Gostin pitches his book to the intelligent lay reader and interested professional. He provides a good basic and comprehensive overview of the legal and constitutional principles impacting public health law. This may leave knowledgeable professionals with a hunger for greater depth and detail, but it provides a wonderful foundation for fuller inquiry by those fascinated by or curious about these issues.
The authorhas all the academic and public service credentials necessary to have written the preeminent accessible text of Public Health Law. He has been successful in this endeavor.
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