By Michelle Meyer The case I mentioned in my last post, Maine Department of Health and Human Services v. Kaci Hickox is no more. Hickox and public health officials agreed to stipulate to a final court order imposing on Hickox the terms that the court had imposed on her in an earlier, temporary order. Until…
Join us for an important public forum: Constitutional Implications of Ebola:Civil Liberties & Civil Rights In Times of Health Crises This public forum addresses the constitutional and public health implications of Ebola response in the United States. According to state and federal laws, patient information is deemed private and is to be held in strict…
By Rachel Sachs The recent arrival of Ebola in the United States has captured the attention of both the public and the media for many reasons. One key reason is that Ebola is making many people realize for the first time that serious diseases which were formerly confined largely to developing countries have the potential to…
By Nicolas Terry Today’s order from Chief Judge LaVerdiere is available here. It removes restrictions on Kaci Hickox’s movements and essentially orders her to comply with the latest CDC guidelines that she was already following on a voluntary basis. According to this report the state troopers that had been posted outside her house have left. Two paragraphs…
By Scott Burris News in this afternoon is that a Maine state judge has lifted the quarantine order on nurse Kaci Hickox, saying that she “currently does not show symptoms of Ebola and is therefore not infectious.” The ruling conforms to the best available scientific evidence and CDC recommendations. It also shows the importance of judicial review…
By Arthur Caplan Over at Time, Art Caplan argues that “Nervous government officials who seem more interested in appearing tough rather than letting science actually defeat Ebola in the United States are misusing quarantine.” Read more here.
By Michelle Meyer [Author’s Note: Addendum and updates (latest: 4 pm, 10/31) added below.] A physician shall… be honest in all professional interactions, and strive to report physicians… engaging in fraud or deception, to appropriate entities.—AMA Principles of Medical Ethics This is a troubling series of news reports about deception and defiance on the part of some…
By David Orentlicher[Cross-posted at Health Law Profs and PrawfsBlawg.] Undoubtedly, the death toll in West Africa would be much lower if Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone had better health care systems or if an Ebola vaccine had been developed already. But as Fran Quigley has observed, Ebola is much more a problem of poverty than of health. Ebola…
By Wendy Parmet The heartfelt letter issued by Kaci Hickox, the nurse being held in quarantine in a New Jersey hospital, calls into question the surprising decision by Governors Christie and Cuomo to quarantine health care workers returning from West Africa. It also shines a spotlight on the all-important, but largely unexplored, question of how…
By Michele Goodwin As the nation braces for possibly more Ebola cases, civil liberties should be considered, including patient privacy. As news media feature headline-grabbing stories about quarantines, let’s think about the laws governing privacy in healthcare. Despite federal laws enacted to protect patient privacy, the Ebola scare brings the vulnerability of individuals and the…
