Healthcare

Changing Families: Time for a Change in Family Law?

February 12, 2018
Family Law, Healthcare, Regulatory, Reproductive Health

MJLST Staffer, Hannah Mosby

 

Reproductive technology allows individuals to start families where it may not otherwise have been possible. These technologies range from relatively advanced procedures—those using assisted reproductive technology (or “ART,” for short)—to less invasive fertility treatments. ART encompasses procedures like in vitro fertilization—in fact, the CDC defines ART as including “all fertility treatments in which both eggs and embryos are handled” (Link to: https://www.cdc.gov/art/whatis.html)—while other kinds of reproductive assistance range from artificial insemination to self-administered fertility drugs. In a study published by the CDC, the number of ART procedures completed in 2014 in the U.S. alone was almost 170,000. As scientific knowledge grows and new procedures develop, that number will undoubtedly increase.

Individuals choosing to utilize these reproductive technologies, however, can find themselves in legal limbo when it comes to determining parentage. In instances where an individual uses a donor gamete (a sperm or an egg) to conceive, that donor could be a legal parent of the offspring produced—even if that result wasn’t intended by the any of the parties involved. For example, the 2002 version of the Uniform Parentage Act—variations of which have been adopted by many states—provides for the severance of the parental rights of a sperm donor in the event of consent by the “woman,” as well as consent or post-birth action by the “man” assuming paternal rights. If statutory conditions aren’t met, the donor could retain his parental rights over any offspring produced by the procedure. To further complicate things, the use of gendered terms makes it unclear how these statutes apply to same-sex couples. A new version of the Act was proposed in 2017 to comply with the Supreme Court’s recognition of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, but it has yet to be adopted by any state . Even murkier than the laws governing donor gametes are those governing surrogacy contracts, which some states still refuse to legally recognize. Overall, these laws create an environment where even the most intentional pregnancies can have unintended consequences when it comes to establishing legal parentage.

For further illustration, let’s revisit artificial insemination. Jane and John, a Minnesotan couple, decide to undergo an artificial insemination procedure so that Jane can become pregnant. However, they aren’t married. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. 257.56, the couple’s marriage is a necessary condition for the automatic severance of the sperm donor’s parental status—therefore, since Jane and John aren’t married, the sperm donor retains his parental rights. The statute also requires that the procedure be performed “under the supervision of a licensed physician” in order for severance to occur. If there was no doctor present, then the sperm donor—and not John—would have legal parental status over the offspring produced. The example becomes more complicated if the couple is same-sex rather than heterosexual, because the statute requires the consent of the “husband” to the procedure. Further still, if Jane lived in a different state, the sperm donor might be able to establish parental rights after the fact—even if they were initially severed—by maintaining a relationship with the child. As one can imagine, this makes the use of known donors (rather than anonymous donors) particularly complicated.

Ultimately, ART and related procedures provide opportunities for individuals to create the families they want, but could not otherwise have—an enormously impactful medical development. However, utilization of these procedures can produce legal consequences that are unforeseen—and, often, unwanted—by the parents of children born using these procedures. The state law that exists to govern these procedures is varied and lagging. In the age of marriage equality and donor gametes, such laws are highly inadequate. . . In order for society to reap the biggest benefit from these life-creating technologies, the legal world will have to play a serious game of catch-up.

 

Prevalence of Robot-Assisted Surgery Illustrates the Negatives of Fee-for-Service Systems

November 6, 2017
Economics, Healthcare, Medical Devices

Jacob Barnyard, MJSLT Staffer

 

In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the da Vinci Surgical System, a robot designed to aid surgeons perform minimally invasive surgeries. The system consists of multiple arms carrying a camera and surgical instruments controlled by a nearby surgeon through a specialized console.

While few would argue the cool-factor of this technology, the actual benefits are significantly less clear. Researchers have conducted multiple studies to determine how the system affects patient outcomes, with results varying based on the type of procedure. One finding has been fairly consistent, however: unsurprisingly, costs associated with the use of robots are significantly higher.  

The use of the da Vinci Surgical System has increased enormously since its initial release, even in surgeries with little or no evidence of any benefit. A rational consumer, however, would try to maximize expected utility by only undergoing robotically-assisted surgery if the expected benefits for that particular surgery outweighed the expected increase in cost. A possible explanation for part of the growing popularity of this technology may be the prevalence of fee-for-service models in the U.S. healthcare system.  

In a fee-for-service model, each service provider involved in a patient’s care charges separately and charges for each service provided. As a result, these providers have an incentive to perform as many different services as possible, frequently providing unnecessary care. The consumer has little reason to care about these increased costs because they are often paid by insurance companies. Consequently, when a surgeon suggests the use of the da Vinci Surgical System, the patient has no incentive to research whether the system actually provides any benefits for the surgery they are undergoing.

A proposed alternative method to the fee-for-service model is a system using bundled payments. Under this system, a provider charges one lump sum for its services and divides it between each party involved in providing the care. This eliminates the incentive to provide unnecessary care as that would only increase the provider’s costs without increasing revenue. Robots would theoretically only be used in surgeries if they actually provide a net benefit. A potential drawback, however, is a decrease in potentially helpful services in an effort to cut costs. Currently, the available evidence suggests that this is not an issue in practice, however, and that some performance indicators may actually improve.  

The Affordable Care Act included incentives to adopt the bundled payment system, but fee-for-service is still vastly more common in the United States. While bundled payments have been shown to lead to a modest decrease in healthcare costs, many physicians are unsurprisingly opposed to the idea. Consequently, change to a bundled payment system on a meaningful scale is unlikely to occur under the incentive structure created by current laws.

Perpetuating Inequality and Illness Through Environmental Injustice

April 30, 2017
Environment, EPA, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform

Nick Redmond, MJLST Staffer

In Sidney D. Watson’s Lessons from Ferguson and Beyond, published in issue 1 of MJLST’s 18th volume, the author focuses on issues of inherent racial bias in access to health care for African Americans, and how the Affordable Care Act may be able to help. The author “explores the structural, institutional, and interpersonal biases that operate in the health care system and that exacerbate Black/white health disparities.” The article’s focus on health care in particular is a critical component of inequality in the U.S., but it also only briefly touches on another important piece of the disparity puzzle: environmental justice. Conversations about environmental justice have taken place in multiple contexts, and in many ways serve to emphasize the multiple facets of racial disparity in the U.S., including police violence, access to health care, access to education, and other issues which are all influenced by the accessibility and the dangers of our built environment.

Such systemic inequalities can include access to public transportation and competitive employment, but they can also be problems of proximity to coal plants or petroleum refineries or even a lack of proximity to public natural spaces for healthy recreation. Lack of access to safe, clean, and enjoyable public parks, for instance, can serve to exacerbate the prevalence of diabetes and obesity, and even take a toll on the mental health of residents trapped in concrete jungles (which the article refers to as “social determinants” of poor health). Though there is some indication that environmental factors can harm neighborhoods regardless of income, industrial zones and polluted environments tend to lie just around the corner from low-income neighborhoods and disproportionately affect those who live there, primarily communities of color.

Often the result of urban development plans, housing prices, and even exclusionary zoning, issues of environmental justice are an insidious form of inequality that are often on the periphery of our national political conversations, if addressed at all. Indeed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Civil rights (established in 1993) has not once made a formal finding of discrimination, despite President Bill Clinton’s executive order which made it the duty of federal agencies to consider environmental justice in their actions. When the primary federal agency tasked with ensuring access to environmental justice appears to be asleep at the wheel, what recourse do communities have? The answer, it seems, is depressingly little.

A high profile example in our current discourse, environmental justice appears to have failed Flint, Michigan, and it seems likely that the issue won’t be resolved any time soon. Other examples like Columbus, Mississippi and Anniston, Alabama, are becoming more and more prevalent at a disturbingly high rate. Impoverished people with little political or legal recourse struggle against the might of the booming natural gas industry and new advances in hydraulic fracturing, and as water runs out these communities will be the first to feel the squeeze of rising food prices and access to the most essential resource on the planet.

At risk of sounding apocalyptic, there is some hope. National groups like the NRDC or the ACLU have long litigated these issues with success, and more local or regional groups like the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy or the Southern Environmental Law Center have made enormous impacts for communities of color and the public at large. But as Sidney Watson states at the end of her article: “[w]e need to talk about race, health, and health care. We need to take action to reduce and eliminate racial inequities in health care.” These same sentiments apply to our built environment and the communities that we have pushed to the periphery to take the brunt of the harmful effects of our dirty technologies and waste. Few people would choose to live near a coal plant; those who are forced to do so are often trapped in an endless cycle of illness, poverty, and segregation.

No Divorce Just Yet, but Clearly This Couple Has Issues: Medicaid and the Future of Federal-State Health Policy

March 28, 2017
Health, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Insurance

Jordan Rude, MJLST Staffer

With the recent demise of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will remain in effect, at least for now. One of the crucial issues that divided the Republican caucus was Medicaid—specifically, whether the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid should remain in place or be rolled back (or eliminated entirely). Moderate or centrist Republicans, and particularly some Republican governors, wanted to retain the expansion, while the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives wanted to eliminate it, either immediately or in the near future.

Sara Rosenbaum, in her article Can This Marriage Be Saved? Federalism and the Future of U.S. Health Policy Under the Affordable Care Act examined the changing relationship between federal and state health policy under the ACA. Two areas in which this relationship was most affected were the ACA’s health insurance marketplaces and expansion of Medicaid: In both, the ACA significantly increased the federal government’s role at the expense of state control. The Supreme Court’s ruling in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius held that the federal government could not require states to expand their Medicaid coverage, pushing back against increased federal power in this area. As of today, approximately 20 states have taken advantage of this ruling and chosen not to expand their programs. Rosenbaum argued that the tension between the ACA’s promise of universal coverage and some states’ refusal to expand Medicaid would defeat the purpose of the ACA, and she proposed a federal “Medicaid fallback” to replace lost coverage in those states.

The AHCA proposed a different, and simpler, solution to this problem—phase out the Medicaid expansion over time until it is completely gone. As noted above, this did not have much of a positive reception. Now that the AHCA’s proposal has been shelved, if only momentarily, some states that had not previously expanded Medicaid (such as Kansas) are moving forward with plans to expand it now. Such plans still face stiff opposition from conservatives, but the failure of the AHCA, along with the ACA’s growing popularity, may shift the argument in favor of expansion.

The end result of this recent healthcare debate, however, was retention of the status quo: The ACA is still in effect, and a significant number of states have still not expanded Medicaid coverage. The underlying issue that Rosenbaum discussed in her article has still not been addressed. The clash between federal and state policy continues: The marriage is not over, but it is not clear whether it can be saved.

This Time It’s Personal(ized): Pharmaceutical Companies, Dosing Regimen Patents, and Personalized Medicine

March 20, 2017
Health, Healthcare, Patents

Peter Selness, MJLST Staffer

An area of developing healthcare garnering attention in both the medical community and areas of intellectual property law is that of personalized medicine.   Personalized medicine changes the old one-size-fit-all approach of medication dosing to instead tailor medications to each individual patient based upon their genetic make-up.  This practice promises numerous benefits for patient healthcare, but also has some substantial road blocks to overcome before becoming a reality.  Among the issues facing this field of medicine is the controversy surrounding the patentability of personalized medicine methods.  Several recent cases such as Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories and Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. have raised serious concerns over whether or not personalized medicine methods are based on patentable subject matter.

This concern was taken one step further in the recent article Decline of Dosage Regimen Patents in Light of Emerging Next-Generation DNA Sequencing Technology and Possible Strategic Responses, which discussed the potential impact this may have on the pharmaceutical industry.  Among the concerns addressed was the impact of not being able to obtain patents on dosing regimens for drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies.  While a pharmaceutical company should have no problem patenting a novel medication it has developed, adding additional patent protection to its patent portfolio surrounding that product, such as patents on dosing regimens, has long been a practice utilized to keep competitors at bay.  Considering the massive investment in research and development required to bring a new drug to market (sometimes billions of dollars), pharmaceutical companies are rightly alarmed by any potential loss of patent protection they may experience on their product.  As the article mentioned, this issue will also surely be compounded by the transition to personalized medicine and integrated healthcare, but it may also be a self-solving problem.

Though the article is concerned with the impact personalized medicine may have on pharmaceutical companies if they no longer can obtain patent protection on dosing regimens, researchers developing personalized medicine methods currently face the same issues.  In order for personalized medicine to have an impact on pharmaceutical companies, it must be a fully developed method that has been integrated into everyday healthcare practices.  For that to happen, researchers must have a fundamental understanding of what specific genes give rise to differences in patients’ responses to medication.  This has proven to be a long and expensive process requiring the systematic sequencing of millions of genes from numerous subpopulations of patients; and all of this work is expensive.  Given that the end result of personalized medicine research is a method of administering medication based on an individual’s genetic make-up, patents on personalized medicine fall victim to the same issue facing pharmaceutical companies’ dosing regimen patents.

Lacking the ability to obtain patent protection on personalized medicine methods, the economic feasibility of research in this area becomes more questionable.  To circumvent this dilemma, those within the field of personalized medicine will most certainly be looking for the same solutions as pharmaceutical companies.  Therefore, one of two results will likely occur, both of which may solve the issues of dosing regimen patentability facing the pharmaceutical companies.  One possibility is that the field of personalized medicine will be unable to economically sustain future research without patent protection and fully integrated healthcare will never become a reality; making this issue disappear for pharmaceutical companies.  The other, more likely, possibility is that in order for research in the field of personalized medicine to continue, those researchers will solve the very dilemma that pharmaceutical companies fear will be brought about by the emergence of integrated healthcare.  Either way, pharmaceutical companies’ dosing regimen patents are so closely tied to the fate of personalized medicine patents that the emergence of integrated healthcare most likely cannot occur in a manner that will be detrimental to pharmaceutical companies’ patent portfolio.

Bet on Science: Transplantation Without Human Donation

February 17, 2017
Biotechnology, Healthcare

Rhett Schwichtenberg, MJLST Staffer

There is no question that the American organ donor process is flawed. An individual makes the selfless decision to become an organ donor, but upon death their organs remain in their body.  Although the law states that the donor is the only person that can revoke an anatomical gift, hospital practice will almost never harvest an organ without the family’s consent. A recent article published in the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology has proposed a solution to the 120,000 Americans waiting for organs: paying the donor $5,000 per organ. This solution could have many positive impacts, but many negative ones as well.

First, this solution will have a strong influence on the socio-economically poor, as an individual could make up to $40,000 for their family by donating the eight organs currently eligible for donation (not including hands and face, added in 2014). This amount of money would put low-income families in a horrible position where they might choose to forego medical treatment in order to provide for their family. This reward manages to take the decision away from the socio-economically poor by incentivizing death. Though middle-class individuals might also elect to choose money over treatment, the decision is based more on want than on need.

Second, with advancing technologies, organs harvested from fatalities will become less frequent. Take, for instance, the new technology of self-driving cars. In the near future, self-driving cars will dominate the automotive industry. Given that in 2016, 13.6 percent of organ donors died in a road accident, the number of available organs will only decrease in years to come. In a very recent article, Elon Musk stated that nearly all new cars will be self-driving within ten years.

Although self-driving cars might be farther down the road than Musk declared, scientists have made a major breakthrough in the biological field. Researchers have successfully used an enzyme to integrate human stem cells into developing pig embryos. This technology makes it possible to edit a pig’s DNA sequence coding for a certain organ, and insert code that would “theoretically grow a human organ for patient transplantation.” Artificially creating human organs would single-handedly eliminate the need for organ donation.

In addition to biological advancements, the tech industry has been a major player in organ creation. The use of 3D printing in the medical industry was instantly commercialized for its ability to create prosthetics and fake organs to practice surgical procedures. Today, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has developed a 3D printer capable of “print[ing] tissues and organs by utilizing cells as the main filament or component of the 3D printer.” Using an individual’s own cells to 3D print new organs for them would also eliminate the need for organ donation.

With such large advancements in science and technology, I do not believe there is a need to incentivize organ donation. This would result in a disparity between rich and poor and create situations where an individual has to choose between life or death for all the wrong reasons. Until science reaches the point where human organs can be created, individuals who wish to donate their organs upon death need to take steps to ensure their wish is fulfilled. Such steps include preparing an advance directive or a living will, signing a donor card, obtaining a health care power of attorney, and informing family members of their decision. Paying someone for their organs is simply not the solution.

Dinner for Two? Federal Regulations Indicate a Newfound Love for the Pediatric Medical Device Market

February 8, 2017
FDA, Healthcare, Medical Devices, Regulatory

Angela Fralish, MJLST Invited Blogger

In December 2016, President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act which includes Subtitle L “Priority Review for Breakthrough Devices” and Subtitle M “Medical Device Regulatory Process Improvement.” Subtitle L addresses efficiency in medical device development by allowing inventors to request an expedited review for inventions that target disease, and for which there is no alternative device is currently on the market. Subtitle M requires FDA staff to be trained in least burdensome concept reviews and allocates $500 million to speed up commercialization.

This Act presents growth opportunities for the pediatric medical device market which often lacks device development due to time and expense. Under the Cures Act, if the device targets a childhood disease and there is no alternative, this new regulation requires a priority review determination within 60 days from the FDA Secretary. Additionally, there are now $500 million supporting implementation of the priority review.

Currently, pediatric devices can take up to 10 years and $94 million to develop. Market incentives often drive device innovation and the market for children is small. Consequently, most developments are not initiated for profit, but for personal interest in children’s health.

For example, despite using an expedited review process under a humanitarian device exemption, an implantable rib to prevent thoracic collapse took 13 years just to get FDA approval to begin the commercialization process. The pediatric medical device market is viewed by some as a crisis and the 21st Century Cures Act has the potential to improve kids’ health.

For lawyers, scientists and engineers, an increase in device development leads to an increase in demand for regulatory, design, reimbursement and scientific technology experts. Lawyers can make a major difference in getting devices from bench-to-bedside. On the other side of the fence is demand for the same to protect consumers from manufacturers taking advantage of the Cures Act. In fact, some tort lawyers directly oppose the Cures Act for fear of watered-down processes for safety in devices.

However, regardless of one’s stance on the issue, it’s a good time to show some legal love to the kiddos in need of growth in the pediatric medical device market.

The GIF That Keeps on Giving: The Problem of Dealing With Incidental Findings in Genetic Research.

December 10, 2016
Biotechnology, Ethics, Healthcare, Privacy

 Angela Fralish, MJLST Invited Blogger

The ability to sequence a whole genome invites a tremendous opportunity to improve medical care in modern society. We are now able to prepare for, and may soon circumvent, genes carrying traits such as Alzheimer’s, breast cancer and embryonic abnormalities. These advancements hold great promise as well as suggest many new ways of looking at relationships in human subject research.

A 2008 National Institute of Health article, The Law of Incidental Findings in Human Subjects Research, discussed how modern technology has outpaced the capacity of human subject researchers to receive and interpret data responsibly. Disclosure of incidental findings, “data [results] gleaned from medical procedures or laboratory tests that were beyond the aims or goals of the particular laboratory test or medical procedure” is particularly challenging with new genetic testing. Non-paternity for example, which has been found in up to 30% of participants in some studies, result in researchers deciding how to tell participants that they are not biologically related to their parent or child. This finding could not only impact inheritance, custody and adoptions rights, but can also cause lifelong emotional harm. Modern researchers must be equipped to handle many new psychosocial and emotional variables. So where should a researcher look to determine the proper way to manage these “incidentalomas”?

Perspectives, expectations, and interests dictating policies governing incidental finding management are diverse and inconsistent. Some researchers advocate for an absolute ban on all findings of non-paternity because of the potential harm. Others argue that not revealing misattributed paternity result in a lifetime of living with inaccurate family health history. These scenarios can be difficult for all involved parties.

Legal responsibility of disclosure was indirectly addressed in Ande v.Rock in 2001 when the court held that parents did not have property rights to research results which identified spina bifida in their child. In 2016, an incidental finding of genetic mutation led a family to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion on a genetic incidental finding. The family was initially told that a gene mutation related to sudden cardiac death caused their 13-year-old son to die in his sleep, and the gene mutation was also identified in 20 family members. Mayo Clinic revealed the gene was misdiagnosed, but the decedent’s brother already had a defibrillator implanted and received two inappropriate shocks to his otherwise normal and healthy heart. Establishing guidance for the scope and limits of disclosure of incidental findings is a complex process.

Under 45 C.F.R. §§ 46.111 and 46.116, also known as the Common Rule, researchers in all human subject research must discuss any risks or benefits to participants during informed consent. However, there is debate over classification of incidental findings as a risk or benefit because liability can attach. Certainly the parents in Ande v. Rock would have viewed the researchers’ decision not to disclose positive test results for spina bifida as a risk or benefit that should have been discussed at the onset of their four-year involvement. On the other hand, as in the Mayo Clinic example above, is a misdiagnosed cardiac gene mutation a benefit or risk? The answers to these question is very subjective.

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has suggested 17 ethical guidelines which include discussing risks and benefits of incidental finding disclosures with research participants. The Commission’s principles are the only guidelines currently addressing incidental findings. There is a desperate need for solid legal guidance when disclosing incidental findings. It is not an easy task, but the law needs to quickly firm-up a foundation for appropriate disclosure in incidental findings.

Digital Health and Legal Aid: The Lawyer Will Skype You Now

November 1, 2016
Healthcare, Medical Devices, New Technology, Public Health

Angela Fralish, MJLST Invited Blogger

According to Dr. Shirley Musich’s research article: Homebound Older Adults: Prevalence, Characteristics, Health Care Utilization and Quality of Care, homebound patients are among the top 5% of medical service users with persistently high expenses. As it stands, about 3.6 million homebound Americans are in need of continuous medical care, but with the cost of healthcare rising, the number of elderly people retiring, hospitals closing in increasing numbers and physician shortages anticipated, caring for the homebound is becoming expensive and impractical. In an article titled Care of the Chronically Ill at Home: An Unresolved Dilemma in Health Policy for the United States, author Karen Buhler-Wilkerson notes that even after two centuries of various experiments to deliver and finance home health care, there are still too many unresolved issues.

One potential solution could be at the crossroads of technology, medicine and law. Telemedicine is a well-known medical technology providing cost effective medical care for the homebound. Becker’s reports that telemedicine visits are often more affordable, and access is a very important component, both in the sense of enabling patients to communicate through a smartphone, and the ability for clinicians to reach patients at a distance, particularly those for whom travel to a hospital on a weekly basis for necessary follow-ups or check-ins would be costly and is not feasible. Telemedicine is a form of affordable technology reaching homebound patients.

Legal aid organizations are also beginning to integrate virtual services for the homebound. For example, at Illinois Legal Aid Online, clients are able to have a live consultation with a legal professional, and in Maryland, a virtual courthouse is used for alternative dispute resolution proceedings. Some states, such as Alaska and New York, have advocated for virtual consults and hearings as part of a best practices model. On September 22nd of this year, the ABA launched a free virtual legal advice clinic to operate as an online version of a walk in clinic. However, despite these responsive measures, virtual technology for legal aid is expensive and burdensome.

But what about the cancer patient who can’t get out of bed to come in for a legal aid appointment, but needs help with a disability claim to pay their medical bills? Could diversifying telehealth user interfaces help cure the accessibility gap for both medicine and law?

Some organizations have already begun collaborations to address these issues. Medical Legal Partnerships work together to provide comprehensive care through cost effective resource pooling of business funds and federal and corporate grant money. Partnerships resolve the sociolegal determinants impacting the health of a patient. One classic case example is the homebound patient with aggravated asthma living in a house with mold spores.  A lawyer works to get the housing up to code, which reduces the asthma, and consequently future medical costs. Lawyers resolve the economic factors perpetuating a health condition while physicians treat it biologically. These partnerships are being implemented nationwide because of their proven results in decreasing the cost of care. In the case of telehealth, the homebound asthmatic patient, could log on to their computer, or work through an app on their phone, to show the attorney the living conditions in high resolution, in addition to receiving medical treatment.

The government seems to be favorable to these resolutions. The Health Resources and Services Administration allocated $18 million to health center collaborations seeking to improve quality care through health information technology. Further, the FDA has created the Digital Health program to encourage and foster collaborations in technologies to promote public health. Last year alone, Congress awarded $4 million to the Legal Services Corporation, who then disbursed that money among 15 legal aid organizations, many of which “will use technology to connect low-income populations to resources and services.” Telehealth innovation is a cornerstone for medical and legal professions committed to improvements in low cost quality patient care, especially for the homebound.

Medical facilities could even extend this same technology profitably by offering patients an in-house “attorney consult” service to improve quality of care. Much like the invention of the convenient cordless phone, a telehealth phone could be used in house or outpatient to give a health organization a leading market edge in addition to decreasing costs. Technology has yet to fully develop the number of ways that telehealth can be used to deliver legal services to improve healthcare.

So if there is a multidisciplinary call for digital aid, why aren’t we seeing more of it on a daily basis? For one, the regulatory law landscape may cause confusion. The FDA governs medical devices, the FTC regulates PHI data breaches and the FCC governs devices using broadcast services or electromagnetic spectrum. Telehealth touches on all of these and results in jurisdictional overlap amongst regulatory agencies. Other reasons may involve resistance to new technology and ever-evolving legislation and policies. In Teladoc, Inc., v. Texas Medical Board, a standard of care issue was raised when the medical board issued an injunction for physicians who prescribed medicine, but had not yet seen the patient in person. One physician in the case stated that without telehealth, his homebound patient would receive no treatment. Transitioning from traditional in person consultations to virtual assistance can greatly improve the health of patient, but has brought an entourage of notable concerns.

Allegedly, the use of telehealth was first executed by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 when he made a phone call to his doctor. Over 140 years later, this technology is used by NASA for outer space health consults. While the technology is still relatively new, especially for collaborative patient treatment by doctors and lawyers, used wisely, it can be an interdisciplinary collaborative renaissance in using technology to improve healthcare systems and patient lives.

From all perspectives, virtual aid is well funded future component of both the medical and legal fields. It can be used in the legal sense to help people in need, in the business sense as an ancillary convenience service generating profits, or in the medical sense to provide care for the homebound. The trick will be to find engineers who can secure multiuse interfaces while meeting federal regulations and public demand. Only time will tell if such a tool can be efficiently developed.

The Comment on the Note “Best Practices for Establishing Georgia’s Alzheimer’s Disease Registry” of Volume 17, Issue 1

April 27, 2016
Bioethics, Data, Healthcare, Privacy, Public Health

Jing Han, MJLST Staffer

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also known just Alzheimer’s, accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia. It is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is poorly understood. No treatments could stop or reverse its progression, though some may temporarily improve symptoms. Affected people increasingly rely on others for assistance, often placing a burden on the caregiver; the pressures can include social, psychological, physical, and economic elements. It was first described by, and later named after, German psychiatrist and pathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906. In 2015, there were approximately 48 million people worldwide with AD. In developed countries, AD is one of the most financially costly diseases. Before many states, including Georgia, South Carolina, passed legislation establishing the Registry, many private institutions across the country already had made tremendous efforts to establish their own Alzheimer’s disease registries. The country has experienced an exponential increase of people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. More and more states have begun to have their own Alzheimer’s disease registry.

From this Note, the Registry in Georgia has emphasized from the outset, the importance of protecting the confidentiality of patent date from secondary uses. This Note explores many legal and ethical issues raised by the Registry. An Alzheimer’s disease patient’s diagnosis history, medication history, and personal lifestyle are generally confidential information, known only to the physician and patient himself. Reporting such information to the Registry, however, may lead to wider disclosure of what was previously private information and consequently may arouse constitutional concerns. It is generally known that the vast majority of public health registries in the past have focused on collection of infectious disease data, registries for non-infectious diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer have been recently created. It is a delicate balance between the public interest and personal privacy. It is not a mandatory requirement to register because Alzheimer is not infectious. After all, people suffering from Alzheimer’s often face violations of their human rights, abuse and neglect, as well as widespread discrimination from the other people. When a patient is diagnosed as AD, the healthcare provider, the doctor should encourage, rather than compel patients to receive registry. Keeping all the patients’ information confidential, enacting the procedural rules to use the information and providing some incentives are good approaches to encourage more patients to join the registry.

Based on the attention to the privacy concerns under federal and state law, the Note recommend slightly broader data sharing with the Georgia Registry, such as a physician or other health care provider for the purpose of a medical evaluation or treatment of the individual; any individual or entity which provides the Registry with an order from a court of competent jurisdiction ordering the disclosure of confidential information. What’s more, the Note mentions there has the procedural rules designated to administer the registry in Georgia. The procedural rules involve clauses: who are the end-users of the registry; what type of information should be collected in the registry; how and from whom should the information be collected; and how should the information be shared or disclosed for policy planning for research purpose; how the legal representatives get authority from patient.

From this Note, we have a deep understanding of Alzheimer’s disease registry in the country through one state’s experience. The registry process has invoked many legal and moral issues. The Note compares the registry in Georgia with other states and points out the importance of protecting the confidentiality of patient data. Emphasizing the importance of protection of personal privacy could encourage more people and more states to get involved in this plan.

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