From the Public Health Law Program, Office of the Chief of Public Health Practice, CDC
http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/

*** Public Health Emergency Law and Forensic Epidemiology CD-ROM. PHLP has released version three of the Public Health Emergency Law and Forensic Epidemiology training materials on CD-ROM.  These self-contained training packages were developed by for use by instructors in any jurisdiction in the United States who provide public health preparedness training to front-line practitioners. Public Health Emergency Law is targeted at public health practitioners and emergency management professionals to improve understanding of the role of law as a public health tool. Forensic Epidemiology is designed to help public health and law enforcement agencies strengthen coordination of responses to pandemic influenza and similar threats. To learn more about the courses or to order a free CD-ROM, visit http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/phel.asp.

*** Georgetown Fellowship Announcement. The recently established O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law is now accepting applications for one to two year fellowships at the Georgetown University Law Center starting in September 2008. For more information, contact Melanie Johnson, at mlj29@law.georgetown.edu.

*** Diesel Emissions Health Impact Study. The California Air Resources Board recently released "Diesel Particulate Matter Health Risk Assessment Study for the West Oakland Community: Preliminary Summary of Results," a public health report linking an elevated risk of premature death, cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases to diesel emissions. To access the report, see http://www.arb.ca.gov/ch/communities/ra/westoakland/westoakland.htm.

*** Car Smoking Report. The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit has released "An Experimental Investigation of Tobacco Smoke Pollution in Cars," available at http://www.otru.org/pdf/special/special_mar_2008.pdf. The report found that there is "a need to inform the public that smoking in cars constitutes a potentially significant health hazard."

*** Health, Law, Poverty Symposium (03/28). The Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy and the O'Neill Institute for Global and National Health Law will present a symposium entitled, "The First Health is Wealth: The Nexus of Health, Poverty, and the Law," on March 28, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET, at the Georgetown University Law Center. For more information or to RSVP, e-mail Anna Dolinsky at ard32@law.georgetown.edu.

*** International Emergency Management Conference (6/17-6/19). The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) will hold its first conference, entitled "Global Cooperation in Emergency and Disaster Management," on June 17 to 19, 2008, in Prague. For more information, see http://www.tiems.org/index.php?id=53.

Top Story

1. Washington: States alter rules of game on safety for toy makers

States and Localities

2. Guam: Telemedicine may violate Guam law

3. Kentucky: Reprimanded miner sues over safety issue

4. Missouri: Missouri Supreme Court ruling gives DWI offenders a break

5. New York: A man's love of pigeons, and his fight to feed them

International

6. Canada: $10B up in smoke

7. India: Anti-human-trafficking law sparks debate in India

Briefly Noted

Arizona autism insurance coverage · TB felony charges · Connecticut death certificates · East Coast pandemic preparedness · Indiana health clinic fee suit · Louisiana mental health · Maryland trans fat · Massachusetts raw milk · New Jersey bar liability ruling · Utah emergency-driving case · National media agenda setting · Anthrax libel suit · Medical device report · Vaccine mandate exemptions · Canada smoking laws · India on-screen smoking suit · South Africa XDR TB · United Kingdom National Security Strategy

Quotation of the Week

Justice Mukul Mudgal, of Delhi (India) High Court

This Week's Feature

Law Behind the News. This week, the News features the United Kingdom's recently-released National Security Strategy. See below for more.

_____________________________1_____________________________

"States alter rules of game on safety for toy makers"

Wall Street Journal     (03/25/08)     Joseph Pereira

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120640378503760985.html?mod=health_home_stories (subscription required)

Washington state lawmakers have overwhelmingly passed a bill that would set some of the toughest restrictions in the nation on the chemical content of children's toys. Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the bill, which would reduce the allowable level of lead in toys and other goods intended for children to 90 parts per million or lower -- far below the current federal standard of 600 parts per million. The bill would also set strict limits on cadmium, a metal used in paints and plastics, and phthalates, which soften plastics. Washington's bill came in response to toy recalls last summer intended to protect children from lead paint and choking hazards. While Congress is considering new federal lead limits, bills in 29 state legislatures have been introduced by sponsors who are concerned the federal government is not acting quickly enough. Of the pending state bills, 24 would regulate lead, 18 would cover phthalates, 10 would set mercury limits, and 17 would govern a variety of other toxins. Toy makers are set to battle proposals in ten states. "Having different standards for different states is just going to create complete chaos," said Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association (TIA), which represents more than 75 companies. TIA has cautioned that shipping products to Washington would not make economical sense if the legislation goes forward. Some small toy makers say they are planning to stop selling in the state, but many have been reluctant to say how many of their products would fail to meet Washington's strict standards.

[Editor's note: To read the text of HB 2647, the Children's Safe Products Act, visit http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2007-08/Pdf/Bills/House%20Passed%20Legislature/2647
-S2.PL.pdf.]

_____________________________2_____________________________

"Telemedicine may violate Guam law"

Pacific Daily News     (03/19/08)     Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080319/NEWS01/803190324/-1/buildasx

Guam's medical licensing law entered the spotlight earlier this month when a physician in Los Angeles diagnosed a baby in Guam using live video at a telemedicine conference. Minutes before the teleconference was scheduled, the Guam Board of Medical Licensure (Board) ordered the Los Angeles physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to "cease and desist" because the physician did not have a Board license. Guam law prohibits off-island physicians from diagnosing patients on Guam without such a license unless they are performing a life-saving duty for free, according to Dr. Richard Eusebio, chairman of the Board. "The Board is not opposed to life-saving things ... the main purpose is to ensure the safety of the people on Guam," Eusebio said. However, the teleconference was allowed to proceed after an intervention by Guam's lieutenant governor (a doctor), and the baby received a diagnosis that otherwise would have required a flight to California. Telemedicine has been used by experts from the Shriners Hospital for Children in Honolulu to treat children in Guam since at least 2000, according to Arlean Kloppenburg, of the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services. "We go for technology to make (specialized health care) more accessible, then all of a sudden, we throw a curve ball," said Kloppenburg, who does not want the Board to discourage off-island specialists from consulting with Guam doctors. Guam legislators will soon hear testimony on a bill that would allow off-island physicians licensed elsewhere to provide consultations to Guam doctors using telecommunications. 

[Editor's note: For Guam Bill No. 245, "An Act to Amend Title 10 GCA Chapter 12 § 12202(b) Relative to Exceptions to the Physicians Practice Act by Adding a New Subitem (8)," see http://www.guamlegislature.com/29th_Guam_Legislature/Bills_Introduced_29th/Bill%20No%20245
%20(LS).pdf.]

_____________________________3_____________________________

"Reprimanded miner sues over safety issue"

Herald-Leader     (03/20/08)     Cassondra Kirby

http://www.topix.net/content/kri/2008/03/reprimanded-miner-sues-over-safety-issue

A Kentucky coal miner filed a lawsuit last week against his employer, Cumberland River Coal, claiming the company improperly reprimanded him for videotaping unsafe working conditions at one of its mines. The miner, Charles Scott Howard, took footage of seven mine seals that are supposed to prevent explosive methane gas from seeping into work areas and then played the tape at a public hearing held last July by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). According to the lawsuit, the video revealed seals cracked so much that water gushed through them. After the public hearing, MSHA cited Cumberland River Coal for multiple violations and Cumberland River Coal issued a "written warning of disciplinary action" to Howard for impermissibly taking a video camera into the mine. Before the lawsuit was filed in Letcher County Circuit Court, Howard also filed a complaint with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, the independent adjudicative agency that handles legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977. In his complaint with the Commission, Howard asked for the reprimand to be removed from his personnel file and for Cumberland River supervisors to undergo training on the rights of miners to document unsafe working conditions. Howard's lawyer, Tony Oppegard, said he hopes that the lawsuit, which also seeks damages for emotional distress, will deter coal mines from future retaliatory actions. Cumberland River denied Howard's allegations and declined to comment on the litigation.

_____________________________4_____________________________

"Missouri Supreme Court ruling gives DWI offenders a break"

Kansas City Star     (03/22/08)     Joe Lambe

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/542805.html

The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously reversed a man's felony drunken-driving conviction because of ambiguous language in the state's law for repeat drunk drivers. "The opinion has sent shockwaves through the law enforcement community," said Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar, who hopes the state legislature will clarify the statute soon. The court ruling upheld an old clause that conflicted with new language in Missouri's DWI laws, holding that the defendant receives the lesser penalty when two conflicting standards exist within a criminal law. The old clause stated that if a person receives a suspended sentence after pleading guilty in municipal court to driving while intoxicated, that conviction cannot be counted toward state felony charges, which prosecutors can file on a driver's third DWI offense. Jackson County alone has 145 felony cases pending against repeat drunk drivers. Under the court's ruling, some of those felony cases will probably be reduced to misdemeanors, meaning that offenders will face up to one year in jail instead of up to four years in prison, according to prosecutors. But defense lawyers and prosecutors disagree over whether the ruling should apply retroactively, allowing some inmates convicted under the ambiguous law to be released from prison and allowing thousands of people to have old felony convictions overturned. As of March 7, about 1,100 people were in Missouri prisons for felony drunken-driving. "If the legislature is going to criminalize some conduct, they have to make it clear what the heck you can't do," said Leon Munday, an assistant Jackson County public defender. 

[Editor's note: To read the Missouri Supreme Court's slip opinion in Turner v. Missouri, see http://www.courts.mo.gov/Courts/PubOpinions.nsf/0f87ea4ac0ad4c0186256405005d3b8e/3b90c4f20b
33ef0886257402005d4fee?OpenDocument.]

_____________________________5_____________________________

"A man's love of pigeons, and his fight to feed them"

New York Times     (03/20/08)     Cara Buckley

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/nyregion/20pigeons.html?hp

A state trial judge will soon rule on what is thought to be a novel legal issue for New York City: whether feeding pigeons on private property is a nuisance. "Clearly, people have bird feeders in their backyard. And that's not a nuisance," said Gabriel Taussig, the city's lawyer in the case. "However, when you start feeding in excess, so there's a level of bird droppings that's unhealthy, it rises to the level of nuisance." Cecil Pitts, a 65-year-old man who lives in Queens, filed the lawsuit against the city after learning that he faced a $500 fine stemming from a complaint lodged by one of his neighbors. "I didn't intend to pay the fine. And if I was incarcerated, my dogs would die," said Pitts, who lives on $450 a month from Social Security and spends $10 a week on 20 pounds of birdseed. The health department inspector who issued the nuisance citation to Pitts reported that at least 150 pigeons occupied Pitts' backyard and that 25 to 30 were on the roof of Pitts' home. He also noted "excessive pigeon droppings" in Pitts' and the neighbors' yards. According to Pitts, he has been feeding pigeons at his family home since the 1950s, and no complaints have ever been made until now. "They are my whole life, because all my relatives are gone," Pitts said of the pigeons and his two 12-year-old dogs. Pitts will make his next court appearance before Justice Charles J. Markey of State Supreme Court in Queens on April 3, 2008.

_____________________________6_____________________________

"$10B up in smoke"

Telegraph-Journal     (03/24/08)     Rob Linke

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/247828

New Brunswick has joined British Columbia as the second Canadian province to file suit against Canadian tobacco companies. The statement of claim does not specify the amount of damages being sought, but one attorney says smoking-related illnesses have cost New Brunswick $10 billion in health-care costs over the last 60 years. Legislation passed by the province, modeled on a law recently enacted in British Columbia, laid a legal foundation for the suit. The Tobacco Damages and Health Care Cost Recovery Act allows the provinces to seek damages for future health-care costs. According to Charles Patrick, an attorney representing New Brunswick, the provinces have many advantages over similar litigation in the United States during the 1990s. First, said Patrick, the new laws "provide for a direct right of action ... against the U.S. or international parent company." Next, the provinces will make use of millions of internal tobacco industry documents uncovered during the discovery phase of the lawsuits in the United States. The documents include millions of pages from British American Tobacco Co. Ltd., which controls Imperial tobacco Ltd. of Montreal, one of the defendants in the suit. Finally, because Canada's government subsidizes all of the nation's health care and thus bore the cost of decades of smoking-related illness, a successful suit could result in a much higher award per capita than the multi-billion-dollar Master Settlement Agreement in the United States. "We do think that the damages will be much higher because of Canada's single-payer system, proportionately," Patrick said.

[Editor's Note, read the text of the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act at http://www.canlii.org/nb/laws/sta/t-7.5/20080215/whole.html.]

_____________________________7_____________________________

"Anti-human-trafficking law sparks debate in India"

The Lancet     (03/22/08)     Patralekha Chatterjee

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673608604365/fulltext (subscription required)

Lawmakers and public health experts in India are debating an amendment to a human trafficking law intended to further curb illegal sex. The current law, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 (ITPA), does not penalize sex workers but instead targets those who profit from or exploit prostitutes. The proposed amendment, supported by the Ministry for Women and Child Development, would make buying sex a criminal offence, and punish clients of sex workers. Critics of the amendment, including India's Health Ministry, say the law, if enacted, would jeopardize the work of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) by pushing the sex trade underground. Targeted interventions of sex workers are central to India's HIV prevention strategy. "It is vital to mobilize communities of sex workers and create a sense of ownership. The proposed amendment to ITPA, however, would achieve the opposite by isolating sex workers, making them more vulnerable to antisocial elements and compromising their power to negotiate safe sex," said Smarajit Jana, of NACO. A similar law enacted in Sweden in 1999 has had an unclear effect on prostitution rates, although sex workers there have said life has become more dangerous for them, and prostituting has been driven underground. Indian legal activists Tripti Tandon and Anand Grover say a New Zealand law decriminalizing prostitution and safeguarding the rights, welfare, and health of sex workers, has been a more successful model. The Indian cabinet is still divided on the issue.

_____________________BRIEFLY NOTED______________________

Arizona: Law to take effect mid-2009

"Napolitano signs law requiring insurance coverage for autism"

East Valley Tribune     (03/22/08)     Howard Fischer

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/111896

Arizona: TB patient charged with two counts of unlawful introduction of disease or parasite

"Tuberculosis patient once quarantined by court order in Arizona hospital faces felony charges"

Associated Press     (03/25/08)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Tuberculosis-Indictment.php

Connecticut: State's death certificates are exempt from freedom of information law

"Data access that could save lives"

Times Union     (03/19/08)     Aaron Ancel

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=STATE&storyID=673235&BCCode=&
newsdate=3/19/2008

East Coast: Article reviews pandemic planning in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York

"What if a flu like 1918's broke out now?"

New York Times     (03/23/08)     Avi Salzman

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/23rflu.html

Indiana: ACLU files suit against school district charging families for health clinic fee

"Health fee would become voluntary"

Indianapolis Star     (03/20/08)     Robert Annis

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080320/LOCAL0202/803200412/1146/
LOCAL0202

Louisiana: "Cloudy" definition of mental health in Stafford Act said to slow mental health aid

"FEMA delayed post-Katrina mental help"

Sun Herald     (03/24/08)     Megha Satyanarayana

http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/447488.html

Maryland: Council vote forbids use in food sold in restaurants, delis

"City OKs ban on trans fat in ‘09"

Baltimore Sun     (03/18/08)     John Fritze

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.transfat18mar18,0,327871.story

Massachusetts: Raw milk sales grow "exponentially"

"Got raw milk?"
Boston Globe     (03/23/08)     David E. Gumpert

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/03/23/got_raw_milk/

New Jersey: Court ruling expands liability for bars

"Bars and eateries shrug at liability ruling"

Star-Ledger     (03/22/08)     Allison Steele

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1206164196102960.xml&coll=1

Utah: Case against police officer for negligent homicide pits dept. policy against state law

"Case focuses on Utah emergency-driving law"

Deseret Morning News     (03/21/08)     Pat Reavy

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695263458,00.html

National: Authors discuss implications for emergency preparedness, disaster response, policy

"Analysis of media agenda setting during and after Hurricane Katrina"

American Journal of Public Health     (04/08)     Michael D. Barnes and others

http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/4/604 (subscription required)

National: "Person of interest" in 2001 attacks says he's no public figure

"Attorneys argue anthrax libel case filed against NY Times"

Associated Press     (03/21/08)     Michael Felberbaum

http://www.examiner.com/a-1293093~Attorneys_argue_anthrax_libel_case_filed_against_
NY_Times.html

National: GAO report found no evidence that reprocesses single-use devices create health risk

"Hospitals reuse medical devices to lower costs"

Wall Street Journal     (03/19/08)     Laura Landro

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120588469924246975.html (subscription required)

National: Numbers of parents seeking non-religious, non-medical exemptions on the rise

"Public health risk seen as parents reject vaccines"

New York Times     (03/21/08)     Jennifer Steinhauer

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/us/21vaccine.html

Canada: Retailers must keep all cigarettes out of sight of minors

"Smoking laws pose challenge"

Nanaimo Daily News     (03/24/08)     Martha Tropea

http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/nanaimo//vancouverisland/nanaimo/news/story.html?id=9cc
0eb4f-6522-41c0-8ee1-0871bb44c89f

India: Judges referred matter to Chief Justice

"Judges fail to agree on smoking in films"

News India     (03/07/08)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080208/delhi.htm#3

South Africa: Hundreds of XDR TB patients languish in secure hospitals

"TB patients chafe under lockdown in South Africa"

New York Times     (03/25/08)     Celia W. Dugger

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/world/africa/25safrica.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

United Kingdom: Government releases National Security Strategy

"New network to protect against natural disasters, terrorism"

Gazette Reporter     (03/19/08)

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/mostpopular.var.2132476.mostcommented.new_network_to_
protect_against_natural_disasters_terrorism.php

__________PHL NEWS QUOTATION OF THE WEEK___________

"Imagine a film where all is well and every character is moral and obeys the laws and is happy and contented. Such a script, apart from being very boring, also necessarily has to be very short."

-- Justice Mukul Mudgal, of Delhi (India) High Court, on one of his reasons for allowing smoking scenes in Indian movies. A second judge, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, disagreed with Mudgal, and referred the matter to the Chief Justice's Court. [See Briefly Noted item, above.]

__________________LAW BEHIND THE NEWS___________________

Last week, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the release of the National Security Strategy of the United Kingdom: Security in an Interdependent World. The document highlights the nature of new security challenges, how they have changed, and how the government is responding. Among the new challenges cited in the document are transnational crime, pandemics, and flooding. According to the report, "[t]his is the first time the Government has published a single, overarching strategy bringing together the objectives and plans of all departments, agencies and forces involved in protecting our national security."

Brown also announced that a "risk register," a list of the risks faced by Britain, would be issued this summer to allow communities to better prepare for potential threats.

To read the text of the National Security Strategy of the United Kingdom, visit http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/national_security_strategy.pdf.

___________________________________________________________

The CDC Public Health Law News is published each Wednesday except holidays, plus special issues when warranted. It is distributed only in electronic form and is free of charge.  News content is selected solely on the basis of newsworthiness and potential interest to readers. CDC and DHHS assume no responsibility for the factual accuracy of the items presented. The selection, omission, or content of items does not imply any endorsement or other position taken by CDC or DHHS. Opinions expressed by the original authors of items included in the News, or persons quoted therein, are strictly their own and are in no way meant to represent the opinion or views of CDC or DHHS. References to products, trade names, publications, news sources, and non-CDC Websites are provided solely for informational purposes and do not imply endorsement by CDC or DHHS. Legal cases are presented for educational purposes only, and are not meant to represent the current state of the law. The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of CDC. The News is in the public domain and may be freely forwarded and reproduced without permission. The original news sources and the CDC Public Health Law News should be cited as sources. Readers should contact the cited news sources for the full text of the articles.

For past issues or to subscribe to the weekly CDC Public Health Law News, visit http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/cphln.asp. For help with subscriptions or to make comments or suggestions, send an email to Rachel Weiss at rweiss@cdc.gov.

The News is published by the Public Health Law Program, Office of the Chief of Public Health Practice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Rachel Weiss, J.D., Editor; Christopher Seely, J.D., Associate Editor; Karen L. McKie, J.D., M.L.S., Editorial Advisor.