HIV disease in pregnancy. Ethics, law, and policy.

Legal and ethical principles mandate that informed consent be an integral element of HIV-related education, counseling, testing, treatment, and intervention. Minimizing patient counseling and education (for economic reasons or otherwise) is likely to backfire. The presumption that a parent will act in her child's best interest, accepted in analogous contexts, should be foundational in the development of HIV policy in the obstetric and gynecologic setting.

Legal implications of genetics and crime research.

Two controversial topics dominate discussions of the legal implications of genetics and crime research; (1) the viability and politics of such research, which has sparked fervent debate in the USA; and (2) the current status of new or atypical criminal law defences, which would include a genetic-defect defence to criminal behaviour. This chapter begins by examining the scientifically discredited XYY chromosome syndrome defence, the major genetic-defect defence that defendants have attempted, albeit unsuccessfully. It then focuses on attorneys' efforts to test for evidence of genetic abnormality in the recent and highly publicized case involving convicted murderer Stephen Mobley, whose family history reveals four generations of violent, aggressive and behaviourally disordered men and women.

Medicare fraud regulations and the implications for joint ventures: are we working at cross purposes?

The broad language and the broad application of the antifraud and Stark statutes has created uncertainty in the developing trend toward prepaid health plans and other systems (such as joint ventures) which are designed to deliver high quality services at reasonable costs. The motivation behind the statutes and the need for statutes that prosecute exploitation of the federal health care systems are needed. However, a reactive prosecutorial system may be inappropriate.