Public Health as Administrative Law
Edward P. Richards, JD, MPH
Program in Law, Science and Public Health
LSU School of Law
http://biotech.law.lsu.edu
Medical and Public Health Law Site



Public Health Law Resources for Law School
Teachers
 Part of the Public Law Publishing Project
http://biotech.law.lsu.edu
 (Just Google Public Health Law)
Online Courses
How Did I Get Here?






Ecology/Behavioral Science/Basic Science
Public Health before AIDS
MPH in disease control
Helped draft the first HIV reporting laws
Articulated the legal basis for traditional disease
control for HIV
 Not very popular
Even New York finally wised up
Misunderstanding Public Health



Quotes from Today
 "Public health law is bringing human good and health
to as many persons as possible"
 "Public health is social justice"
This views captured public health in the 1970s and were
later fueled by AIDS
The result has been catastrophic
 HIV in minority communities
 Failure of emergency preparedness - Katrina
Misunderstanding Public Health Law

Not
 Civil liberties law
 Discrimination law
 Not poverty law
 Not tort law
 Not even health care administration law
Public Health as Administrative Law



Administrative law in the broad notion of federal, state,
and local agencies
Public health was one of administrative functions of the
colonies, which was carried over to the states
The colonies were fever-ridden swamps
 Yellow fever killed 10% of Philadelphia in one summer
 Strong original intent basis for public health law
Why Does Seeing Public Health Law as
Administrative Law Matter?


If you do not understand how government works,
you cannot be an effective public health lawyers
If you see public as a mishmash of everything that
is warm and friendly, you have not a workable
model for policy in a world of limited resources
and dangerous threats
 People die as we chase our angels around the
pin head
What Should a Public Health Curriculum
Look Like?



Administrative law, with public health examples
 St Marks Baths as agency deference
 Food inspection as administrative searches
 Reynolds as due process and habeas corpus
 Lots of others, stay tuned.:-)
State and local government law and legislation
FDA and IP law
What Should be in Public Health Law
Course?


Administrative law must be a prerequisite
Background material
 Basic epidemiology
 Basic notions of scientific proof