By Craig Konnoth In United States v. Skrmetti the Supreme Court will consider whether Tennessee’s broad prohibitions on gender-affirming care for minors violates the Equal Protection Clause. Tennessee’s statute prohibits providers from administering “a medical procedure” to “[e]nabl[e] a minor to identify with…a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex” or “[t]reating purported discomfort or…
By Zack Buck Yet another case that examines the authority of administrative agencies to interpret health care laws will make its way to the Supreme Court next term. And the case could have major implications for hospital financing as well. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in Advocate Christ Medical, et al….
by Rachel Rebouché Two years after deciding the case that overturned a constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court heard two cases on abortion law this term. The first involved a challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval and regulation of mifepristone, the first drug in a medication abortion. The second concerned the…
By Elizabeth Sepper For the past decade, a blockbuster religion law case has been a feature of every Supreme Court term. The Court dramatically eased the ability of employers to claim religious exemptions. It overturned long-standing Establishment Clause precedent. And it revolutionized Free Exercise Clause doctrine to favor objectors to public health measures and antidiscrimination…
By Michael R. Ulrich Many advocates, legal scholars, and public health researchers concerned about the gun violence epidemic in the United States have viewed the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment doctrine as the greatest barrier to reform. A rare victory for the government, announced at the end of the 2023 Supreme Court term, may signal a…
By Nathan Cortez If you wanted quick medical advice, you’d ask your friend with an MD or BSN. Not a JD. Likewise, if you wanted to know how to regulate nitrogen oxide under the Clean Air Act, you’d probably trust the scientists at Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the judges on a court that referred…
This post launches a new Digital Symposium: Supreme Court Preview: Key Health Law Issues for the 2024 Term, guest edited by Cary Franklin, Professor of Law, McDonald/Wright Chair of Law, and Faculty Director of the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy and the Williams Institute at UCLA Law; and Lindsay F. Wiley, Professor of…
By Claudia E. Haupt In addition to the conflict between free speech and public health in connection with social media, the role of social media as a public health hazard in itself has gained attention. Social Media’s Public Health Harms In a New York Times essay published on June 17, 2024, the Surgeon General proposed…
By Barbara Pfeffer Billauer Legal pundits are predicting the imminent demise (or at least substantial enfeeblement) of the Chevron doctrine. Until recently, that case afforded substantial judicial deference to decisions made by administrative agencies if a statutory provision under its purview was ambiguous. Now two cases are before the Supreme Court challenging an agency interpretation…
Scholars, analysts, and companies cannot agree on what Amgen v. Sanofi means for patients, drug makers, and innovation.
