Supreme Court Impacts in Public Health Law: 2023-2024.

In a "mixed bag" 2023-2024 session, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of decisions both favorable and antithetical to public health and safety.

Supreme Court Impacts in Public Health Law: 2022-2023.

In another tumultuous term of the United States Supreme Court in 2022-2023 a series of critical cases implicate instant and forthcoming changes in multiple fronts that collectively shift the national public health law and policy environment.

Midterm Maelstrom: Public Health Legal Impacts of Election 2022.

Among the morass of critical issues impacting the results of the midterm elections in 2022 were core public health issues related to health care access, justice, and reforms. Collectively, voters' communal health and safety concerns dominated outcomes in key races which may shape national, state, and local legal approaches to protecting the public's health in the modern era.

Policy Recommendations for Improving Rural Cancer Services in the United States.

Compared with urban residents, rural Americans have seen slower declines in cancer deaths, have lower incidence but higher death rates from cancers that can be prevented through screening, have lower screening rates, are more likely to present with later-stage cancers, and have poorer cancer outcomes and lower survival. Rural health provider shortages and lack of cancer services may explain some disparities. The literature was reviewed to identify factors contributing to rural health care capacity shortages and propose policy recommendations for improving rural cancer care.

Consequences of COVID-19 on adolescents in Arizona: A longitudinal study protocol.

Introduction: The long-term impact of COVID-19 is unknown. We developed a 5-year prospective cohort study designed to generate actionable community-informed research about the consequences of COVID-19 on adolescents ages 12-17 years in Arizona.

Methods: The study has two primary outcomes: 1) acute and long-term outcomes of COVID-19 illness and 2) symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Regressive Federalism, Rights Reversals, and the Public's Health.

As the United States emerges from the worst public health threat it has ever experienced, the Supreme Court is poised to reconsider constitutional principles from bygone eras. Judicial proposals to roll back rights under a federalism infrastructure grounded in states' interests threaten the nation's legal fabric at a precarious time. This column explores judicial shifts in 3 key public health contexts - reproductive rights, vaccinations, and national security - and their repercussions.

Legal Interventions to Counter COVID-19 Denialism.

A series of denialist state laws thwart efficacious public health emergency response efforts despite escalating impacts of the spread of the Delta variant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Legal Challenges Underlying COVID-19 Vaccinations.

Immunizing hundreds of millions against COVID- 19 through the most extensive national vaccine campaign ever undertaken in the United States has generated significant law and policy challenges.

The association between breast cancer capacity and resources with incidence and mortality in Arizona's low populous counties.

Introduction: While cancer deaths have decreased nationally, declines have been much slower in rural areas than in urban areas. Previous studies on rural cancer service capacity are limited to specific points along the cancer care continuum (eg screening, diagnosis or treatment) and require updating to capture the current rural health landscape since implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act in the USA. The association between current rural cancer service capacity across the cancer care continuum and cancer incidence and death is unclear.

Design of the Arizona CoVHORT: A Population-Based COVID-19 Cohort.

This study is a prospective, population-based cohort of individuals with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and those without past infection through multiple recruitment sources. The main study goal is to track health status over time, within the diverse populations of Arizona and to identify the long-term consequences of COVID-19 on health and well-being. A total of 2,881 study participants (16.

Nationally Representative Health Care Expenditures of Community-Based Older Adults with Pain in the United States Prescribed Opioids vs Those Not Prescribed Opioids.

Objective: To compare health care expenditures between older US adults (≥50 years) with pain who were prescribed opioid medications and those who were not.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Community-based adults in the 2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).

Legal and Policy Responses to Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks.

Laws and policies are vital tools in preventing outbreaks and limiting the further spread of disease, but they can vary in content and implementation. This manuscript provides insight into challenges in responding to recent vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks by examining legislative changes in California, policy changes on certain university campuses, and the laws implicated in a measles outbreak in Minnesota.

Practice-Based Research Networks and the Mandate for Real-World Evidence.

The 21 Century Cures Act encourages the Food and Drug Administration to consider "real-world evidence" in its regulation of the safety and efficacy of drugs and devices. Many have interpreted this mandate to focus on non-randomized observational research. However, we suggest that regulatory science must also move from rarefied academic hospitals to community-based settings, where the vast majority of patients in fact receive care in the fragmented U.

State Regulation of Community Paramedicine Programs: A National Analysis.

Background: Community Paramedicine (CP) is a rapidly evolving field within prehospital care where paramedics step outside of their traditional roles of treating acute conditions to provide elements of primary and preventive care. It is unclear if current state oversight regarding the scope of practice (SOP) for paramedics provides clear guidance on the novel functions provided and skills performed by CP programs.

Objective: To determine the process and authority, as currently defined by state laws and regulations in the United States, to expand paramedic SOP in order to perform CP roles and to assess state EMS agencies' interpretation of paramedic SOP as it applies to CP.

The Latest in Vaccine Policies: Selected Issues in School Vaccinations, Healthcare Worker Vaccinations, and Pharmacist Vaccination Authority Laws.

This paper discusses recent changes to state legal frameworks for mandatory vaccination in the context of school and healthcare worker vaccination. It then discusses state laws that allow pharmacists the authority to vaccinate.

Regulations and policies regarding e-cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are a growing public health concern because of a dramatic increase in use by adolescents and the uncertainty of potential health impacts. These health concerns and lack of an established federal regulatory scheme have led many local and state governments to address the regulatory void for e-cigarettes by incorporating them into the statutory definition of tobacco or by passing laws specific to the use of e-cigarettes. In August 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule deeming e-cigarettes within their authority; providing uniform requirements like premarket approval applications, Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents reporting, and warning labels; and establishing 18 years as a minimum age of purchase.

Legal Regulation of Sodium Consumption to Reduce Chronic Conditions.

In the United States, tens of thousands of Americans die each year of heart disease, stroke, or other chronic conditions tied to hypertension from long-term overconsumption of sodium compounds. Major strides to lower dietary sodium have been made over decades, but the goal of reducing Americans' daily consumption is elusive. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been urged to consider stronger regulatory limits on sodium, especially in processed and prepared foods.