Symposia
Theory-Practice Seminars
Faculty Workshops and Other Presentations
A Representative Sample of Scholarly Presenters

Brooklyn Law School Symposium
"The Partial-Birth Abortion" Ban: Health Care in the Shadow of Criminal Liability

Brooklyn Law School held a symposium on March 7 to assess the likely effects of Gonzales v. Carhart, the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case upholding the validity of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act against constitutional challenge. "The 'Partial-Birth Abortion' Ban: Health Care in the Shadow of Criminal Liability" was co-sponsored by the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy and the Journal of Law and Policy.
                                      Read more, View video.


Theory-Practice Seminar
Balancing Competition and Government Allocation of Health Care Resources: The Berger Commission Report
Thursday, September 20, 2007
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

The final report of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century (the Berger Commission) recommends the closure of nine hospitals and a reconfiguration of some 48 other hospitals in New York State. This program explored the difficult legal and policy questions raised by such government allocation of health care resources and its impact on competition, access to care and other market forces.
Read more, View video.

Brooklyn Law School Symposium
A Cross-Disciplinary Look at Scientific Truth:
What’s the Law to Do?
Friday, March 2, 2007
9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Science and the legal system have been facing off for some time, with no end in sight. For example, every time a consumer sues a pharmaceutical company or a manufacturer for injuries, a complex mixture of scientific and legal constructs and values comes into play. How do you know that this product really caused this particular injury? What constitutes proof? How much information should we require before we can say that our best theory is good enough? Who should decide? What inferences should be drawn from a lack of information? Read more.

Brooklyn Law School
David G. Trager Public Policy Symposium
End-of-Life Care: Bioethical Perspectives
and Conflict Resolution
Thursday, February 8, 2007
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

End-of-life care is vitally important to patients, their families, medical providers, and the public. Yet no consensus has emerged on the type and duration of medical treatments that are appropriate at the end of life. How do we decide when to say enough is enough? How do we resolve conflicts among family members and among families, the patient, and doctors?

In this symposium, sponsored by The Center for Health, Science and Public Policy, an internationally recognized group of medical and legal experts debated these questions in the context of selected, typical cases. They analyzed the interests at stake in these cases, provided cross-national perspectives, and evaluated a range of conflict resolution models. Read more.

Developing Innovative Therapies in a Complex Regulatory Environment
Co-sponsored The New York Academy of Medicine

On March 12, 2004 Brooklyn Law School hosted the symposium “Developing Innovative Therapies in a Complex Regulatory Environment.” Society benefits immeasurably from the development of new therapies, including drugs and vaccines. Other ongoing research possesses great potential, including gene therapy and stem cell research. Investigators in industry and academia who are devoted to this research increasingly find themselves constrained by a complex array of regulations. This symposium explored regulation of innovative therapies from a variety of perspectives – medical, legal, ethical, and economic. It was a dynamic dialogue among some of the most knowledgeable experts in the field. Read more.

The New Economy and the Unraveling Social Safety Net
Co-sponsored by the Sparer Public Interest Fellowship Program

The erosion of longstanding workplace protections such as healthcare and the loss of traditional job stability are sources of concern and anxiety for Americans at every economic level. Personal and commercial bankruptcies are soaring, adding to the unease of working individuals and their families. On Friday, April 11, 2003 Brooklyn Law School presented a conference, "The New Economy and the Unraveling Social Safety Net," on the changing work environment, resulting gaps in the healthcare system, and the effects of easy consumer credit. The participants presented a range of initiatives to address these problems. The keynote speaker was Elizabeth Warren, the Leo E. Gottlieb Professor at Harvard Law School. Read more.

Theory-Practice Seminars

Advancing Vaccines:
Innovations in Intellectual Property Practice

Globalization has focused attention on the relationship between intellectual property law and global public health. It has sparked debate over how to ensure the development of effective vaccines against HIV/AIDS, Avian flu, tuberculosis and similar epidemics, and to ensure timely access to preventive therapies. Can creative management of intellectual property result in better health outcomes? What are the “best practices” for fostering research and development? On October 26, 2006, this program focused on the new legal approaches to vaccine development. Our panel of experts discussed innovations in intellectual property practice that are developing “on the ground.” Read more.

Does Hospital Ownership Matter in Patient Care?
Mapping the Missions: Nonprofit, For-Profit, and Public Hospitals

Does the ownership of a hospital make a difference in the type of service and quality of care that patients receive? This was the question posed by a Center for Health, Science and Public Policy theory-practice seminar held on February 9, 2006. The event brought together academics and practitioners in the field of health law and policy to discuss whether health care and services differed between non-profit, for-profit and public hospitals. Read more.

Litigation on Guns and Alcohol:
The Impact on Public Health Policy

On November 10, 2005 Brooklyn Law School hosted a seminar exploring the impact of gun and alcohol litigation on public health policy. Increasingly, private litigation seeks to influence or even substitute for, regulation on public health issues such as alcohol and firearms. Using examples of guns and alcohol, Professor Stephen Teret ’66, Director of the Center for Law and the Public’s Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, will analyze the pitfalls and potentials at the intersection of litigation and public health. Read more.

Contemporary Challenges in Bioethics
An Interdisciplinary Discussion of End-of-Life Issues

On April 5, 2005 Brooklyn Law School hosted a theory-practice seminar exploring the challenging bioethics issues presented by end-of-life cases – issues that have been brought to the forefront of national attention as a result of the Terry Schiavo case. Using case studies and featuring experts from the fields of law, medicine and health advocacy, the program provided an interdisciplinary context in understanding right-to-die issues. BLS’s Center for Health, Science and Public Policy collaborated with SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s Division of Humanities in Medicine and Sarah Lawrence College’s Health Advocacy Program in presenting the seminar. Read more.

The Future of Health Care Reform
Co-sponsored by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics

On October 1, 2004, Brooklyn Law school hosted a theory-practice seminar on “The Future of Health Care Reform.” With the number of uninsured Americans rising now at a rate similar to that of the early 1990’s, the time is ripe to think again about comprehensive health reform. Are there new proposals and approaches for full coverage that can be achieved in the next decade? The program brought together leading experts to discuss the issues as we prepare for a national election. Read more.

Therapeutic Coverage: A New Approach to Medical Necessity?
Speaker: Professor William M. Sage, M.D., J.D., Columbia Law School

On November 10, 2003 the Center for Health, Science, and Public Policy presented a seminar on “Therapeutic Coverage: A New Approach to Medical Necessity?” Professor William Sage of Columbia Law School outlined his proposal for a new basis on which managed care companies and insurance companies should decide which medical treatments to cover. Expert practitioners in the field of health law and medical coverage decision-making then provided feedback on the proposal, and discussion was opened to the audience. Read more.

When Terrorism Threatens Health:
How Far Are Limitations on Civil Liberties Justified?

The events of 9/11, the ensuing anthrax attacks, and the present threat of war with Iraq have dramatically increased concerns about bioterrorism. What is the level of the government’s preparedness? Do proposed government plans to ensure the public health of U.S. citizens threaten our civil liberties? Just how sweeping should the states’ powers be during a health crisis? On January 30, 2003 Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Health, Science, and Public Policy hosted a forum in which Professor Lawrence Gostin and Mark Barnes, Esq, – two prominent voices in the debate involving the balance of public health priorities and civil liberties concerns – addressed this dilemma. Read more.

Clinical Trials Litigation:
A Conversation on Legal & Ethical Issues in Human Subjects Research

On October 3, 2002 Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Health, Science, and Public Policy presented a program that examined the legal and ethical questions concerning the safety of human subjects in clinical research projects, as well as the status of existing litigation in this area. Read more.

Faculty Workshops and Other Presentations

• Managed Process, Due Care: New Adjudication Systems in Health Law
  
• The Children of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART):
  Can the Law Protect Them From Harm?
  
• The Administration of Death in American Law
  
• Regulating Medical Error
  
• Uncertainty and Informed Choice: Unmasking Daubert
  
• In Defense of the ‘Old’ Public Health, The Ira M. Belfer Lecture
  
• Health Law in the Post-Tort Reform Era

A Representative Sample of Scholarly Presenters

• Gregg Bloche, Georgetown University Law Center
  
• Robert Burt, Yale Law School
  
• Nancy N. Dubler, Albert Einstein Medical School
  
• Harold Edgar, Columbia University Law School
  
• Richard Epstein, University of Chicago Law School
  
• Barry Furrow, Widener University Law School
  
• Lawrence Gostin, Georgetown University Law Center
  
• Peter Jacobson, University of Michigan School of Public Health
  
• Wendy Mariner, Boston University Law School
  
• Sara Rosenbaum, George Washington University Law School
  
• William Sage, University of Texas Law School
  
• Catherine Struve, University of Pennsylvania Law School
  
• Stephen Teret, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health