Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Gonen

J.D. Seminar 364 | 3 credit hours

In this course we will engage in legal and ethical debate over key public health challenges, including infectious diseases, smoking, violence, injuries, and the environment. First, we will examine the foundations of public health law in America, discussing the powers and duties of government to assure the conditions for a healthy population, and the limits of those powers. Second, the course will examine the fundamental tensions in public health, which center on the sometimes conflicting concepts of individual civil liberties and the common good. For example, the course will probe potential conflicts between: (1) injury and disease surveillance and privacy; (2) labeling and advertising restrictions and free expression; (3) personal control measures (e.g., screening, forced medical treatment and quarantine) and liberty; and (4) commercial public health regulation and property rights. Finally, the course will examine the future of public health law in America. This future includes the problem of bioterrorism and the role, if any, of emergency governmental powers. Additional topics to be addressed include the role of government in regulating the private health care system and in providing and financing health care services.

This course is important for all students considering careers in health law, as well as those simply interested in exploring and debating the state of public health in America. It is a particularly unique opportunity for students because of the presence of the CDC Collaborating Center on Law & the Public’s Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities.

Students may not receive credit for both this course and Public Health Law and Policy.