First Amendment

  • Read more: A “Torrent of Studies” on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Is FDA Shoring Up Its Defenses?
    Article

    A “Torrent of Studies” on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Is FDA Shoring Up Its Defenses?

    By Kate Greenwood Cross-Posted at Health Reform Watch At Regulatory Focus earlier this week, Alexander Gaffney wrote about what he characterized as “a torrent of studies” that FDA is conducting or has proposed conducting on prescription drug promotion, and, in particular, on direct-to-consumer advertisements.  The studies include, among others, a survey study aimed at sussing out “the influence of DTC advertising in…

  • Read more: Unreliable Biomedical Science, and a Solution?
    Article

    Unreliable Biomedical Science, and a Solution?

    By Christopher Robertson The Economist has a long, detailed, and readable piece about the difficulties of inferring anything from the published findings of biomedical science.  There are all sorts of problems that fall short of scientific fraud, including the the biases caused by industry-funding of biomedical science, the biases of unblinded raters who see what they…

  • Read more: Handling Debate by Threatening Legal Action: Anti-Vaccination Activists in Israel
    Article

    Handling Debate by Threatening Legal Action: Anti-Vaccination Activists in Israel

    Dorit Reiss has a new op-ed in The Times of Israel describing defamation suits that are being brought in the midst of the vaccination debate. Take a look. Anti-vaccination activists in Israel have recently resorted to threatening critics with defamation suits over comments in online social-media discussions. This is not a new tactic: In several…

  • Read more: “When Truth Cannot Be Presumed” Burning Up SSRN
    Article

    “When Truth Cannot Be Presumed” Burning Up SSRN

    Make sure to check out “When Truth Cannot Be Presumed: The Regulation of Drug Promotion Under an Expanding First Amendment,” by our very own blogger – and former Petrie-Flom Center Academic Fellow – Christopher Robertson.  Chris presented this paper at our annual conference last year, blogged about it here, and must really be on to…

  • Read more: Intent, Legal Metaphysics, and the Regulation of Stuff
    Article

    Intent, Legal Metaphysics, and the Regulation of Stuff

    By Christopher Robertson I recently posted my new article “When Truth Cannot Be Presumed: The Regulation of Drug Promotion Under an Expanding First Amendment“.  The article is forthcoming next year in Boston U. Law Review, but I have plenty of time to make revisions.  So I would love to get the feedback from BillofHealth readers.…

  • Read more: There’s an App for This: The Constitution
    Article

    There’s an App for This: The Constitution

    Guest posted by Library of Congress Direct Access to Expert Analysis of the Supreme Law of the Land    The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Library of Congress, and the Government Printing Office (GPO) mark Constitution Day today by launching a new app and web publication that make analysis and interpretation of constitutional…

  • Read more: The First Amendment Meets Public Health Again — The US AID Case
    Article

    The First Amendment Meets Public Health Again — The US AID Case

    By Wendy Parmet Sometimes it seems as if the First Amendment is the leading legal threat to public health. Not today. In Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International the Supreme Court in a 6-2 decision struck down on First Amendment ground the so-called “anti-prostitution pledge” imposed by § 7631(f) of the…

  • Read more: Live Blogging from FDA in the 21st Century Conference, Plenary 2: Alta Charo on Integrating Speed and Safety
    Article

    Live Blogging from FDA in the 21st Century Conference, Plenary 2: Alta Charo on Integrating Speed and Safety

    By Michelle Meyer [This is off-the-cuff live blogging, so apologies for any errors, typos, etc] Day two of PFC’s FDA in the 21st Century conference begins with a morning plenary by the very fabulous Alta Charo, of the University of Wisconsin Law School, who is speaking on “Integrating Speed and Safety.” Today Alta is presenting what…

  • Read more: Live Blogging from FDA in the 21st Century Conference, Panel 3: Protecting the Public within Constitutional Limits
    Article

    Live Blogging from FDA in the 21st Century Conference, Panel 3: Protecting the Public within Constitutional Limits

    By W Nicholson Price II [Posted on behalf of W. Nicholson Price II, Academic Fellow, The Petrie-Flom Center (with the disclaimer re: live blogging – see posts below)] The third panel at the conference covered commercial speech protection and off-label drug promotion, in reaction to the Second Circuit’s December 12 case, United States v. Caronia.  Caronia was…

  • Read more: A Tale of Two Polities
    Article

    A Tale of Two Polities

    By Scott Burris Last week, Northeastern University’s effort to convene a much-needed conference on the future of health policy was a casualty of the successful manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers.  One hardly wants to make too much of a stymied conference given all the human damage of the bombing and its aftermath, but all…