By Arthur Caplan Over at his NBC News column, Art Caplan proposes a different approach to quarantining ebola “heroes.” How to combat fear? Honor these heroes by giving them paid R &R, with their partner if they so choose, for 21 days. Give them a vacation in the guise of quarantine. Give them a reason…
By David Orentlicher[Cross-posted at Health Law Profs and PrawfsBlawg.] In the wake of Craig Spencer’s decision to go bowling in Brooklyn, governors of three major states—Illinois, New Jersey, and New York—have imposed new Ebola quarantine rules that are inconsistent with national public health policy, are not likely to protect Americans from Ebola, and may compromise the response to Ebola in…
By Michele Goodwin In the wake of another health care worker contracting Ebola, alarm bells are ringing. Last week, President Obama abruptly cancelled a campaign stop to Rhode Island to hold press conferences where he promised that federal authorities are “taking this very seriously at the highest levels of government.” Despite Obama’s assurances that the…
By Nicolas Terry The enormity of the tragedy in West Africa remains hard to appreciate even as Ebola begins to migrate into developed countries. In the U.S. mindless panic stoked by the 24 hour news cycle and fear-mongering politicians are not the only familiar phenomena. In important ways our “Ebola crisis” is only tangentially related to…
Guest post by Matthew Stephenson [Cross-posted from The Global Anticorruption Blog.] There’s been an interesting mini-debate over at the FCPA Blog about whether, or to what extent, corruption is partly responsible for the severity of the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Richard Cassin, the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog, argued that it is. He made…
By Zachary Shapiro It seems like the debate over banning flights from West African Ebola stricken countries has become instantly political, with many Conservatives calling for a flight ban. See here. One author, in response to these calls, points to the history of Liberia’s relationship with the United States as a reason that the US…
By Arthur Caplan Art Caplan and his colleague Alison Bateman-House have a new post in Time about government authority to quarantine individuals who pose a risk of infecting others, and the practical logistics of carrying out a quarantine. Take a look here: Ebola in America: Government Can Lock Us Up for Weeks at a Time
By Deborah Cho It’s been over half a year since the beginning of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, yet the number of cases and deaths from the disease continue to rise. The total case count as of September 29, 2014 is 6,574 and total deaths are at 3,091. Even so, the international response,…
By Wendy Parmet[Ed. Note: Cross-posted from HealthLawProf Blog.] Last month’s riots in an Ebola-infected slum in Monrovia, Liberia demonstrated anew the perils of relying on quarantine, and similar highly coercive public health laws, to contain highly contagious diseases. At first blush, Ebola viral disease (EVD) is exactly the type of disease for which broad quarantines…
