Public health experts, legal scholars and policy makers are increasingly recognizing that laws can keep people safe and healthy; for example, by encouraging the use of seat belts and by keeping the environment safe from toxins. This growing recognition has led to the emergence of “public health law research,” a developing field aimed at studying the intended and unintended consequences of laws on public health as a way to support evidence-based policy making.
In a paper published in the Milbank Quarterly, a multidisciplinary journal of population health and health policy, Temple University law professor and CPHLR Director Scott C. Burris and colleagues formally introduce the field as a new way of looking at the relationship between law and health. The paper, "A Framework for Public Health Law Research," defines this emerging scientific discipline and explores the promise and challenges of studying the impact of laws on health.
Read the article at Milbank Quarterly.
The article is also alternatively available via the Social Science Research Network.
Authors:
- Scott Burris, JD, Temple University, Center for Public Health Law Research
- Alexander Wagenaar, PhD, Emory University
- Jeffrey Swanson, PhD, Duke University
- Jennifer Ibrahim, PhD, MPH, MA, Temple University
- Jennifer Wood, PhD, Temple University
- Michelle Mello, JD, PhD, Stanford University