Public Health Advocacy in the Courts: Opportunities for Public Health Professionals

Kromm, Jonathan N.; Frattaroli, Shannon; Vernick, Jon S.; Teret, Stephen P.

doi:10.1177/003335490912400618

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…More importantly, strategies to counteract weak governance and disregard for the rule of law will be critical if progress in developing and enforcing an inter-sectoral alcohol control evidence-based policy will ever come to fruition in Lebanon. Engaging and training judges may be one way to shift the tide in this direction [55]. Intersectoral coalition building among governmental ministries with a focus on win-win policies will also be important [56].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Everyone Has the Right to Drink Beer”: A Stakeholder Analysis of Challenges to Youth Alcohol Harm-Reduction Policies in Lebanon

Nakkash

Ghandour

Yassin

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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Background: Alcohol use is a major risk factor in premature death and disability, especially among youth. Evidence-based policies to prevent and control the detrimental effect of alcohol use have been recommended. In countries with weak alcohol control policies—such as Lebanon, stakeholder analysis provides critical information to influence policy interventions. This paper assesses the views of stakeholders regarding a national alcohol harm reduction policy for youth. Methods: We interviewed a total of 22 key stakeholders over a period of 8 months in 2015. Stakeholders were selected purposively, to include representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations and industry that could answer questions related to core intervention areas: affordability, availability, regulation of marketing, and drinking and driving. We analyzed interview transcripts using thematic analysis. Results: Three themes emerged: Inadequacy of current alcohol control policies; weak governance and disregard for rule of law as a determinant of the status quo; and diverting of responsibility towards ‘other’ stakeholders. In addition, industry representatives argued against evidence-based policies using time-worn strategies identified globally. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that alcohol harm reduction policies are far from becoming a policy priority in Lebanon. There is a clear need to shift the narrative from victim blaming to structural conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Everyone Has the Right to Drink Beer”: A Stakeholder Analysis of Challenges to Youth Alcohol Harm-Reduction Policies in Lebanon

Nakkash

Ghandour

Yassin

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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“…Industry self-regulation and enforcement through private litigation, shaming, or consumer action can both be effective under the right circumstances. [31][32][33] Little attention has been paid to understanding how to better enforce health laws or provide technical assistance and tools to health agencies that are struggling to implement laws with poorly designed enforcement strategies or without adequate resources. This gap deserves more attention from policy makers, legal experts, and public health practitioners.…”

Section: Public Health Law Service 4: Enforce and Defend Legal Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better Health Faster

Burris

Ashe

Blanke³

et al. 2016

Public Health Rep

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It is easy to identify health laws that have helped Americans live longer, healthier lives. Indeed, most of the greatest public health accomplishments of the last century depended on legal action. The coordination of research, policy development, public education, and advocacy in the tobacco control movement shows that success is attainable even in the face of powerful industry opposition. 1 The development of automobile safety laws during the past 30 years shows how well-conducted, properly diffused research can instigate policy cascades and guide policy refinement over time. 2 These examples of ''interventional health law'' 3-using law as a tool of intervention-also illustrate that developing, enacting, evaluating, and spreading health laws is not just the work of lawyers. In these and many examples like them, health advocates, researchers, public health practitioners, and lawyers work in strategic partnership to improve population health through law and policy. Consistent with the literature on the art and science of evidence translation, 4,5 these efforts were built on effective practices, such as cultivating partnerships among diverse stakeholders. These partnerships promote (1) research that is targeted at the most strategically relevant questions; (2) the development of model laws based on the best available science; (3) sophisticated community education and advocacy campaigns to win, defend, and enforce effective policies; and (4) enforcement to ensure that improved public health outcomes are achieved and sustained. 6-8 The starting point for this commentary is that public health law is not just the work of lawyers but must also be owned by the range of public health disciplines as a transdisciplinary activity. 9 Knowing how to translate what we have learned from research and experience into effective public health law interventions is not the problem. The problem is that the public health system, writ large, does not deploy wellrecognized best practices consistently or strategically across topics. Legal interventions affecting millions of Americans are often not scaled or evaluated for years, if at all. Innovations that show promise in research or practice do not spread, or they spread too slowly. 10,11 The pace can be even slower when innovations are faced with organized ideological or industry opposition. 12 Success requires investment in the same legal infrastructure that was created for tobacco control and alcohol policy and is newly underway in obesity prevention. ''Legal infrastructure'' refers to the people, methods, and tools needed to move a policy from conception to widespread implementation. The first step in establishing this infrastructure is defining its elements. After publication of the 1988 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report The Future of Public Health, 13 public health as a field embarked on an effort to define, measure, and improve the public health system. 14,15 Yet, despite its key role, law largely escaped that systematic treatment. Two of the 10 essential public health services exp...

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“…Public health officials in other jurisdictions should consider opportunities to proactively provide education on the role of public health to the court system, state attorneys responsible for defending public health authority, and legislators, as these professions are unlikely to receive formal education on this topic. 40 Rather than risking delay in outbreak investigations such as occurred in New Hampshire, public health agencies should review local laws and regulations prior to events, strengthen statutory language and incorporate new technologies where needed, and foster a common understanding of the authority and roles among public health partners, the court system, and state officials.…”

Section: Implications For Public Health Law and Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Taken to Court: Defending Public Health Authority to Access Medical Records during an Outbreak Investigation

Herrick¹,

Maynard²,

Montero³

et al. 2015

Public Health Rep

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One of the most significant legal challenges in public health policy and practice is how to strike the balance between patient privacy and protection of the public's health. In this installment of Law and the Public's Health, New Hampshire public health officials discuss the delicate balancing act they confronted in seeking patient medical records without specific patient consent during a hepatitis C outbreak.

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Public Health Advocacy in the Courts: Opportunities for Public Health Professionals

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

“Everyone Has the Right to Drink Beer”: A Stakeholder Analysis of Challenges to Youth Alcohol Harm-Reduction Policies in Lebanon

“Everyone Has the Right to Drink Beer”: A Stakeholder Analysis of Challenges to Youth Alcohol Harm-Reduction Policies in Lebanon

Better Health Faster

Taken to Court: Defending Public Health Authority to Access Medical Records during an Outbreak Investigation

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