Past Events

  • Read more: Allocating Scarce Medical Resources: Equity and Justice Concerns
    May 5

    Allocating Scarce Medical Resources: Equity and Justice Concerns

    Event Description Crisis standards of care are guidelines that inform health care systems’ decisions around access to scarce medical resources. This includes access to medical beds, ventilators, medications, dialysis, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and other resources. The concept has received increased attention as the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our health care systems. These guidelines pose concerns…

  • Read more: Medical Justice and the Carceral State, Part 3: The Doctor’s White Coat vs. The Officer’s Uniform: Who Calls the Shots?
    May 3

    Medical Justice and the Carceral State, Part 3: The Doctor’s White Coat vs. The Officer’s Uniform: Who Calls the Shots?

    Event Description Who decides when people in prison will receive health care, how they will do so, and what kind of care they receive? Health care for incarcerated populations is often determined by elements of the correctional system, including staff interference, budget limitations, or security overrides, instead of being informed by a patient’s clinical needs….

  • Read more: Emerging Policy Opportunities for Community-Based Serious Illness Care
    Apr 27

    Emerging Policy Opportunities for Community-Based Serious Illness Care

    Event Description The pandemic has accelerated trends moving the delivery of care into the home or community. Yet, care at home largely remains the province of better resourced individuals, due to limited funding by government programs. Medicaid, the federal/state program of health care for people of lower income, has the potential to address these equity…

  • Read more: Neuroscience and Cannabis: Implications for Law and Policy
    Apr 20

    Neuroscience and Cannabis: Implications for Law and Policy

    Event Description The legalization of cannabis has raised significant questions for law and public policy. In this public event, neuroscientist Dr. Yasmin Hurd exploref the science of cannabis, CBD, and the future of substance use disorder treatment. Dr. Stephanie Tabashneck then moderated a discussion and audience Q&A about the implications for law and policy. Panelists Media…

  • Read more: A Macro View of Microdosing
    Apr 13

    A Macro View of Microdosing

    Event Description Microdosing psychedelics involves consuming doses that are one-twentieth to one-tenth the size of standard doses. The practice has become increasingly popular among individuals seeking to boost their productivity, elevate their mood, or treat symptoms of depression, anxiety, or pain. The increasing use of microdosing has inspired media coverage and scientific analysis of its…

  • Read more: Supplying International Aid Effectively: Ethics and Law
    Apr 8

    Supplying International Aid Effectively: Ethics and Law

    Confronting pandemics and improving health in low-income countries requires ambitious public health plans. Global health responses to HIV/AIDS and multidrug resistant tuberculosis can provide guidance on how to garner public support and gain financial and political commitments to implement large-scale public health interventions and systems. In this session, experts discussed what it takes to finance…

  • Read more: Health Justice in the Americas: The Role of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
    Apr 5

    Health Justice in the Americas: The Role of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

    Event Description The jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has been profoundly influential in the region since its inception in 1979. Since 2017, the Court has built up case law on the right to health, addressing an array of issues including: access to emergency care, HIV treatment, and health services for prison inmates;…

  • Read more: The Criminalization of Addiction: Law, Medicine, and Future Directions
    Mar 31

    The Criminalization of Addiction: Law, Medicine, and Future Directions

    Event Description In Commonwealth v. Eldred, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a court may order a defendant who is addicted to substances to remain drug free as a condition of probation and that if a defendant tests positive for an illegal substance, the defendant may be found in violation of his or her…

  • Read more: Setting a National Psychedelic Policy Agenda
    Mar 24

    Setting a National Psychedelic Policy Agenda

    Event Description As the psychedelic renaissance unfolds, groups are forming to identify national policy priorities. This event assembled a panel of experts from several of these groups for a discussion on setting a national psychedelic policy agenda. Panelists Sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

  • Read more: A Physician’s Duty to Treat: Rethinking Medical Ethics in Carceral Spaces
    Mar 10

    A Physician’s Duty to Treat: Rethinking Medical Ethics in Carceral Spaces

    Event Description Incarcerated people in the U.S. suffer disproportionately from chronic health conditions, their acute medical needs often go unmet, and the carceral healthcare system that serves them is set up to fail by a lack of resources and infrastructure. The pandemic has only magnified the health crisis that is the norm in the U.S….