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

WELCOME

Happy New Year Gentle Readers, and welcome to the first-ever Year In Review issue of the CDC Public Health Law News! You will find a summary of the year in public health and law (as reported by the Public Health Law Program) in the '2007 Top Stories' section below. Also, we hope you will be reminded of stories that we found noteworthy (or quote-worthy) in 'B-Side: Best of the Briefly Noteds' and '2007 Notable Quotables.'

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*** Mutual Aid Provisions. The CDC Public Health Law Program has released "Public Health Mutual Aid Agreements -- A Menu of Suggested Provisions," as a tool public health and other agencies may use to strengthen their all-hazards emergency preparedness. The document can be downloaded at http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/mutualaid/index.asp.

*** Systematic Intervention Policy Reviews. The Milbank Memorial Fund, in collaboration with CDC, has released "Improving Population Health: The Uses of Systematic Reviews." The report describes the methods, applications, and value of systematic reviews for policymakers in selecting policy interventions intended to improve population health, including public health laws. The report is available at http://www.milbank.org/reports/0712populationhealth/0712populationhealth.html.

http://www.milbank.org/reports/0712populationhealth/0712populationhealth.html

*** Violence Prevention Grant. The CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control recently announced a grant opportunity for research on injury prevention, including research on law-based interventions. The grant announcement, which has a submission deadline of February 15, 2008, is available at http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/CE08-003.htm.

*** Teen Car Crash Prevention Grant. The CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control recently published the grant announcement "Translation Research to Prevent Motor Vehicle-Related Crashes and Injuries to Teen Drivers and Their Passengers." Research on interventions through regulatory, legislative or administrative channels is eligible for funding. The application deadline is March 17, 2008. For more, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CE-08-004.html.

*** Stem Cell Research Conference (01/10/08). The Georgia State University College of Law and the Center for Law, Health and Society will present an on-campus conference entitled "Stem Cell Research: Understanding the Controversies." More information is available at http://law.gsu.edu/events/index.php?op=view&id=1804.

Recent Headlines

Hawaii DUI arrests ∙ Illinois smoking ban ∙ Bottled water tax ∙ New Jersey HIV testing ∙ New York mental health laws ∙ Cats ∙ Washington liquor price study ∙ Washington D.C. infant mortality rate ∙ National truckers' hours ∙ United Kingdom junk food ad ban ∙ Cell phone rules ∙ European Union particulate matter limit ∙ Café smoking bans ∙ International virus samples

2007 Top Stories (by topic)

1. Emergency preparedness: avian/pandemic influenza, responder liability, mutual aid

2. Infectious disease: HPV, TB, MRSA and other HAI, food-borne pathogens, HIV

3. Chronic disease: tobacco control, nutrition

4. Injury

5. Environmental health: lead paint, air pollution

6. School health: wellness policies, college mental health

B-Side: Best of the Briefly Noteds

Arkansas shopping cart handles ∙ New York aluminum bats ∙ Texas swift-water rescue ∙ Canada skinny-dipping ∙ England clip-on ties ∙ Pakistan kite-flying ∙ Ukraine mass hypnotism ∙ United Kingdom hanging baskets ∙ Park benches ∙ Vatican City driving commandments

2007 Notable Quotables

-- Susan Kirkpatrick, executive director of Colorado's Department of Local Affairs

-- Jack Whipple, president of the National Council of Chain Restaurants

-- Robb, an Ajax, Ontario tattoo artist

-- Harold Goldstein, of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy

-- Bernadette Del Chiaro, of the advocacy group Environment California

_________________________RECENT HEADLINES_________________________

Hawaii: DUI arrests increase despite new, tougher law intended to decrease drunk driving

"Hawaii DUI arrests on the rise"

Honolulu Star-Bulletin     (12/20/07)     Gene Park

http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/20/news/story01.html

Illinois: As state smoking ban takes effect, city enacts tougher measures

"Highland Park toughens its ordinance"

Daily Herald     (12/20/07)

Illinois: Chicago's bottled water tax raises some concern over discouraging water habit

"New Year brings bottled water tax"

Chicago Tribune     (12/24/07)     Stacy St. Clair

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-watertaxdec24,1,1419328,print.story
?ctrack=2&cset=true

New Jersey: HIV testing law provides opt-out provision for pregnant women

"NJ to make HIV testing routine for pregnant women, newborns"

Associated Press     (12/26/07)     Tom Hester, Jr.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-testing1226,0,4766868.story

New York: As states re-examine mental health laws, some look to New York as model

"N.Y. law raises issues of states' reach in patient care"

Washington Post     (12/30/07)     Chris L. Jenkins

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122901622_pf.html

New York: Though useful to store owners, cats can lead to health code violations

"To dismay of inspectors, prowling cats keep rodents on the run at city delis"

New York Times     (12/21/07)     Kate Hammer

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/nyregion/21cats.html

Washington: To cut down public drunkenness, Tacoma increased price of cheap liquor

"Tacoma's novel notion to aid inebriants: cheap-booze-free zone"

San Francisco Chronicle     (12/20/07)     C.W. Nevius

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/20/BAJRU1JHG.DTL

Washington D.C.: Goal is set to lower infant mortality rate below 1 percent by 2010

"Programs aimed at reducing district's infant mortality rate"

Washington Post     (12/20/07)     Susan Levine

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121901827.html

National: 'Parents Against Tired Truckers' join in suit to lower limit on truckers' hours

"Lawsuit seeks to limit truckers' hours"

CNN     (12/21/07)     Paul Courson

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/20/trucker.hours/index.html

United Kingdom: Junk food ads now banned from children's TV channels 

"Ban on junk food ads introduced"

BBC     (01/01/08)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7166510.stm

United Kingdom: New cell phone driving rules could lead to jail time for violators

"Motorists face jail over phone use"

CNN     (12/20/07)    

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/12/20/uk.driving/index.html

European Union: European Parliament approved stricter particulate matter limit

"EU moves closer to U.S. rules on particle pollution"

International Herald Tribune     (12/11/07)

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/11/business/rtremit.php

European Union: Smoking bans extended to bars, cafés in France, Germany

"Paris and Berlin ban café smoking"

BBC     (01/01/08)    

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7166159.stm

International: Using law to negotiate dispute over withheld avian flu samples 

"Influenza virus samples, international law, and global health diplomacy"

Emerging Infectious Diseases     January 2008     David P. Fidler and others 

http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/1/88.htm

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EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Avian Influenza / Pandemic Influenza

Jurisdictions around the world worked in 2007 to strengthen their legal preparedness for pandemic and avian influenza. Planners at local, state, and national levels gleaned lessons from the 1918 influenza pandemic in the United States, developed plans, and staged drills to practice response coordination and vaccine allocation. Nations throughout Southeast Asia worked together to keep H5N1 avian influenza from spreading from poultry kept by individual residents and large-scale farms to neighboring nations. U.S. states worked to strengthen pandemic preparedness, offering training information for schools, businesses, courts, and law enforcement. CDC issued pandemic influenza guidelines designed to help states determine when they should take steps to combat the spread of an avian influenza pandemic, establishing the "pandemic severity index." Nations also readied themselves for the implementation of the World Health Organization's (WHO) revised International Health Regulations (IHR), which were accepted by the United States in December 2006 and came into force in June 2007. After declaring a national disaster, the government of Indonesia disagreed with IHR rules and refused to share samples of the H5N1 avian influenza virus isolated from infected patients, arguing that Western nations would use the strain to create vaccines unaffordable to many developing nations. As of December 2007, the controversy over Indonesia's virus samples had not yet been resolved. (See International Current Headline item, above.)

Responder Liability

Comprehensive pandemic influenza planning raised concerns about the potential liability of private (non-governmental) first responders and other healthcare professionals who treat victims in the course or aftermath of a public health emergency. Several jurisdictions responded by enacting or amending laws to protect responders. For example, Iowa extended its Good Samaritan law, protecting those who help others in an emergency from liability, to cover the actions of corporations and non-profits that provide aid during a public health disaster. Using a different legal theory, Missouri enacted a law protecting licensed healthcare providers deployed by the governor or any state agency that provides healthcare "necessitated by the emergency." The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws approved two new sections of the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act, concerning civil liability protections and workers compensation benefits. More than one researcher has offered suggestions for ways to shield responders from liability in the face of a public health emergency.

Mutual Aid

Included in the topic of liability, but deserving of its own mention, mutual aid agreements flourished in 2007. Agreements intended to ensure assistance between jurisdictions during a declared emergency have been established between parishes in Louisiana, communities in Massachusetts, and, most recently, codified between the New England states and their neighboring Canadian provinces.

[Editor's note: For a list of citations to News issues containing articles about Emergency Preparedness, please see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/CH/citations/Cite_ERPreparedness.pdf.].

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INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

Gardasil, the first vaccine approved specifically to target HPV, the virus that causes cervical and vaginal cancer, gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in June 2006. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices responded the following month with a recommendation that 11 and 12 year-old girls be vaccinated. Research supported the use of the vaccine for girls, but to date, no consensus has been reached regarding its use in boys. Because Gardasil is only an effective prophylactic when used before a girl is sexually active, many protested moves to include Gardasil in school vaccine requirements. Within the first five months of 2007, the News reported on four jurisdictions -- Virginia, Utah, Texas, and Washington D.C. -- that were the first to take steps to make the vaccine mandatory for girls. While some experts expressed concern about the vaccine's effectiveness given that it was designed only to protect against certain strains of HPV, others debated the potential health effects of the mandates, since the vaccine had not undergone extensive testing. Many opposed the mandates, questioning the morality of requiring prophylaxis for a sexually transmitted disease in young girls who are not yet sexually active. As of October 2007, only three jurisdictions had passed mandatory vaccination laws: Washington D.C., New Jersey, and Virginia (See, http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/HPVvaccine.htm.) 

Tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis (TB), particularly extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and multi-drug-resistant (MDR) TB, was a frequent topic in the News last year. As a reminder that TB is no longer as treatable as it once was, the World Health Organization declared XDR TB a global emergency in the fall of 2006. Because of the highly contagious nature of TB, and the inability to treat the drug-resistant strains, jurisdictions went to great lengths to contain infected patients. Legal actions by Arizona, Wisconsin, New Mexico, the U.S. government, Canada, and South Africa tested the boundaries of involuntary isolation orders and civil liberties, and reflected a sense of confusion over how to handle the disease.

Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and other Hospital-Acquired Infections

MRSA was first reported in the News (04/08/04), after thousands of infections per year were found to have plagued England. In late 2006, shortly before the U.K. government finalized guidelines to reduce MRSA, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported the increasing prevalence of MRSA among people without "established risk factors for MRSA" in the United States, finding it "the most common identifiable cause of skin and soft-tissue infections in several metropolitan areas across the United States." (See, http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/7/666.) Decision-makers in England released guidelines directing hospitals to review their screening and decolonization policies and recommending patient screening, decolonization, and isolation to reduce the risk of MRSA infection in healthcare settings. In August 2007 the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services revised federal rules to stop Medicare payments to hospitals for conditions that the agencies have determined are preventable. Many U.S. states have acted to require the public disclosure and reporting of hospital-acquired infections, including MRSA. As of December 2007, some jurisdictions that have reporting deadlines under their new rules are now trying to determine how to validate and report data. Many jurisdictions, school boards, and facilities including prisons and firehouses have begun taking steps to eliminate MRSA from community settings, where infections are becoming more prevalent.

Food-Borne Pathogens

In response to a nation-wide E.coli outbreak stemming from California spinach in 2006, state and federal regulators and private industry have scrutinized the food safety system both in California and at the federal level. The Western Growers Association and other food industry groups, along with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, developed voluntary guidelines for growers and handlers of leafy green vegetables in early 2007. Attempts to enact official rules in the California legislature to govern the produce industry failed, to the dismay of food safety advocates.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Consent

In the fall of 2006, CDC announced new guidelines recommending that all teenagers and most adults be tested for HIV as a part of their routine medical care. The guidelines recommended against signed consent forms specifically allowing the HIV test and pre-test counseling. The guidelines were intended to increase the number of people who know their status, and therefore the number of people receiving treatment. A March 14, 2007 letter to JAMA found that after the policy was adopted in San Francisco, "the monthly rate of HIV testing increased steadily." (See, http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/297/10/1061.) Despite the promising data, some states found that adoption of the federal guidelines might run afoul of state rules requiring consent for HIV testing. An October 2007 article reported that most states had laws requiring specific consent for HIV testing and that the "policies adopted early in the [AIDS] epidemic to encourage testing mostly remain in place today." Yet, last week, New Jersey joined a small number of states that have removed consent requirements for testing pregnant women and newborns. (See Recent Headlines, above, for more.)

Screening

States and nations including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, and China have continued to be vigilant against the spread of HIV. Some jurisdictions have relaxed rules regarding testing, including Texas, where the Attorney General ruled that prisons can test inmates for HIV to prevent infections. Rape victims in New York state and Uganda can learn if their attacker is infected: the New York law allows victims to request the test; rape suspects in Uganda are required to undergo a test under the nation's April 2007 law. The United Arab Emirates introduced compulsory premarital check-ups for expatriates and China enacted regulations requiring Chinese citizens who live outside the country for more than a year to take an HIV test.

[Editor's note: For a list of citations to News issues containing articles about Infectious Disease, please see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/ch/citations/Cite_InfectiousDisease.pdf.]

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CHRONIC DISEASE

Tobacco Control

In 2007, the News provided significant coverage on tobacco control research, legislation, and court decisions. While a complete list of headlines covered in the 2007 News can be found in the Citations section below, a few of the tobacco-related highlights from last year include bans on smoking in cars, apartment smoking restrictions, the rise of Swedish smokeless tobacco, and the rejection of 'light' cigarette litigation.

Car Smoking Bans

Several jurisdictions across the world considered or acted to ban smoking in cars in 2007. In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Beijing banned smoking in taxis. Other places banned smoking in any type of car with children. Last January, the News reported that Bangor, Maine, enacted an ordinance to ban smoking in cars with children. In October, California became the third state to enact such legislation; both Australia and Nova Scotia also passed car smoking restrictions. The News also reported on what is thought to be the first apartment smoking ban in the U.S., enacted in Belmont, California. The Belmont City Council voted in September to ban smoking in multi-unit residential buildings. Though the various car and apartment bans were cheered by anti-smoking advocates, earlier in the year a federal court dismissed lawsuits alleging that cigarette manufacturers falsely marketed "light" cigarettes as safer than the non-light variety.

Snus

Also making headlines this year was the Swedish smokeless tobacco product snus. The product has elicited mixed reactions from public health advocates because it is seen as a replacement for cigarettes by some and as a carcinogenic danger by others. Despite the debate over the public health merit of snus, the product is legal in the United States and in October, the News reported that snus has become available in some U.S. markets.

Nutrition

Trans Fat

Over the past year, courts and legislatures across the globe dealt with nutrition standards, passing laws and deciding cases about trans fat, menu board labeling, and baby food. In late 2006, the New York City Board of Health approved the United States' first major municipal restriction on the use of artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking. Trans fat, a chemically modified fat used as a substitute for saturated fat, has been linked to heart disease. New York City implemented the restrictions during 2007, and, by September, 94 percent of the city's restaurants were in compliance with the restrictions. While no states have yet enacted trans fat restriction legislation, the News reported that several jurisdictions have followed in New York City's footsteps: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Brookline, Massachusetts; King County, Washington; and Montgomery County, Maryland all enacted trans fat restrictions in 2007. Also, Los Angeles, California initiated a voluntary program that provides incentives for restaurants to cut trans fats out of their food.

Menu Labeling

New York City's menu board labeling rules did not fare as well as its trans fat restrictions. The rules, which required specified classes of restaurants to post caloric content on their menus, were challenged as unconstitutional by the New York Restaurant Association. In September, a federal judge found in favor of the restaurant association and held that the menu board labels were preempted by federal law. But the New York City Board of Health is expected to vote on a new menu labeling regulation in 2008 that addresses the preemption issues.

Breastfeeding

Infant nutrition received significant coverage in 2007. The governments of Australia, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom all took legal actions stemming from the debate over the comparative nutritional value of infant formula and breast milk. Australia launched an inquiry into the topic in the spring, and both the Philippines (via a court decision) and the United Kingdom (via agency action) placed restrictions on how baby formula is advertised. All three countries were concerned that breast milk substitutes were not as healthy for babies as the real thing.

[Editor's note: For a list of citations to News issues containing articles about tobacco control and nutrition, please see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/ch/citations/Cite_ChronicDisease.pdf.]

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INJURY

In 2007, the News covered many stories on safety laws and issues that affect public health including drunken driving, distracted driving, and helmets. Among several 2007 court decisions regarding states' drunken driving laws, it was determined that in New York, the DWI law does not encompass huffing; in South Carolina, adult hosts can be liable for minor guests who drink; in Minnesota, the Court of Appeals ruled that it is unconstitutional for police to order a blood test on a suspected drunk driver without first obtaining a warrant; and in New Mexico, a driver who passes out in the driver's seat with his keys placed in the passenger seat was ruled to be in "actual physical control" of the car. A variety of laws were passed across the United States in 2007 to address the safety hazards posed when drivers are distracted. Utah created a "careless driving" offense targeted at people who multi-task while driving; Washington and California banned the use of hand-held cell phones while driving; and Kentucky prohibited electronic billboards because of their distracting nature. The News additionally reported on several studies in 2007 examining motorcycle helmet laws and on new legislation addressing helmet safety. In Tennessee and Oklahoma, legislation was enacted to require helmets for some all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riders; New York passed legislation requiring companies employing bicycle delivery workers to provide helmets; and Vietnam enacted legislation requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets.

[Editor's note: For a list of citations to News issues containing articles about Injury, please see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/ch/citations/Cite_Injury.pdf.]

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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Lead Paint

The News also covered a significant amount of environmental health legal issues over the past year, particularly lead paint and air pollution. Outcomes from lead paint litigation were mixed in 2007, with the majority of cases reported in the News decided in favor of paint companies. The News reported that courts in Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin all rejected claims filed against paint makers. However, the state of Rhode Island won its case against three former lead paint manufacturers in February, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court recently upheld the state's Lead Hazard Mitigation Act, which requires some landlords to take actions to alleviate potential lead hazards in their rental units. Also, New Hampshire enacted legislation that reduces the amount of lead in children's blood necessary to trigger a home investigation to search for the source of the contamination. 

Air Pollution

California made several headlines in 2007 for its efforts at reducing air pollution that harms public health. In January the News reported that California enacted the first U.S. statewide ban on the most popular, albeit carcinogenic, dry-cleaning chemical; in July, the California Air Resources Board (Board) adopted the first rules in the nation to make construction companies clean up diesel-powered machinery; in September, the Board voted to ban in-home ozone air purifiers, on the grounds that they may worsen the conditions they claim to prevent.

Reducing mercury emissions was also on the agenda of several U.S. states in 2007. The News reported that Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Indiana were all poised to adopt and to implement mercury emissions rules in 2007. Also, seven Northeastern states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont -- created a draft plan to press the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate tougher national mercury emissions standards, in an effort to mitigate the effect of Midwest power plants that emit mercury, which subsequently drifts through the atmosphere and pollutes the northeast.

[Editor's note: For a list of citations to News issues containing articles about Environmental Health, please see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/ch/citations/Cite_EnvironHealth.pdf.]

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SCHOOL HEALTH

Wellness Policies

A 2006 federal law required schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs to develop a "wellness policy" by the beginning of the 2007 school year. Schools responded by improving nutritional offerings in cafeterias, restricting vending machine choices, increasing nutrition education, and implementing physical education programs. States also took action to eliminate or restrict sugary foods and sodas sold in schools; Alabama became the second state to ban soft drinks from public schools. While research on American students revealed that students are willing to eat healthy foods when offered, lawmakers found that students in Scotland and England were more resistant to new, healthy foods offered under national standards implemented in September 2006. Some schools dealt with loss of income from soda sales, while others struggled to free themselves from beverage contracts and exclusive marketing agreements with soft-drink companies and distributors. Meanwhile, U.S. soda makers agreed to voluntary self-regulation of sugary drinks in schools. A recent study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest concluded that, while states have been working steadily to strengthen their school nutrition policies, changes "are fragmented, incremental, and not happening quickly enough to reach all schools in a timely way." (See, http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/2007schoolreport.pdf.) Recently, the U.S. Senate dropped the National School Nutrition Standards Amendment to the pending farm bill, which would have sharply curtailed the amounts of sugar and fat found in school foods. State legislatures across the United States are also working to increase the amount of physical education for children each week, and some have implemented programs to measure students' body mass index.

College Mental Health

The mental health of college students and the corresponding liability of college and university officials have been topics of concern since the case of Elizabeth Shin, an MIT student who allegedly committed suicide in her dorm room in 2000. Since the 2006 settlement of the MIT case, lawsuits across the country have challenged schools' mandatory leave policies for at-risk students intended to reduce the likelihood of on-campus deaths. Parents challenged school and federal privacy policies in 2007, arguing that they should be notified when their over-18 college students are a danger to themselves or others. An early 2007 case revealed a potential conflict between allowing students to sign a waiver of their rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the protection the law affords. Killings by a mentally ill student on the Virginia Tech campus in April shined even greater light on the issue, prompting other colleges and universities to review their treatment of students with such conditions. School administrators found themselves in an untenable situation: they may be held legally liable if they fail to prevent a suicide, or they may be held liable if they take action to remove a suicidal student from school. Colleges and universities found themselves constrained from sharing personal health or school records by the Americans with Disabilities Act (which prohibits schools from asking students about mental illness), FERPA, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

[Editor's note: For a list of citations to News issues containing articles about School Health, please see http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/ch/citations/Cite_SchoolHealth.pdf.]  

__________B-Side: BEST OF THE BRIEFLY NOTEDS___________

Arkansas: Sanitary wipes to be promoted for shopping cart handles

"Cleaner shopping carts are bill's goal"

See CDC Public Health Law News, February 14, 2007, for link to original article                              

New York: Federal judge rules city can ban aluminum bats

"Council scores with bat ban"

See CDC Public Health Law News, September 5, 2007, for link to original article      

Texas: Swift-water rescue bill totals $1,573.68

"Man who ignored evacuation order asked to pay for rescue"

See CDC Public Health Law News, August 1, 2007, for link to original article            

Canada: B.C. Supreme Court rules skinny dipping is not a public health hazard

Skinnydipper Services, Inc. v. City of Surrey

See CDC Public Health Law News, November 14, 2007, for link to original article    

England: School requires clip-on ties, cites health and safety concerns

"Headmaster bans knotted ties"

See CDC Public Health Law News, March 21, 2007, for link to original article          

Pakistan: Punjab provincial government ends ban but institutes safety regulations

"Pakistan lifts ban on kite-flying"

See CDC Public Health Law News, January 10, 2007, for link to original article         

Ukraine: Mind control limited to few medical professionals, one patient at a time

"Ukraine bans mass hypnotism"

See CDC Public Health Law News, May 23, 2007, for link to original article  

United Kingdom: Villagers protest health and safety order

"Hanging baskets 'danger' ruling"

See CDC Public Health Law News, June 13, 2007, for link to original article

United Kingdom: New rules protect elderly, disabled

"Health and safety purge of the park benches that are 3 inches too low"

See CDC Public Health Law News, June 6, 2007, for link to original article   

Vatican City: Rules warn about speeding, drunk driving, urge drivers to obey law

"Vatican issues 10 Commandments for drivers"

See CDC Public Health Law News, June 27, 2007, for link to original article

____________________NOTABLE QUOTABLES____________________

May 2, 2007

"It's supposed to be a secret, but not so secret we can't figure out what the plan is."

-- Susan Kirkpatrick, executive director of Colorado's Department of Local Affairs, on her state's plan to ensure state government will function in a natural disaster or terror attack. Lawmakers say they are baffled because they have not been told any details of the plan.

June 27, 2007

"You'll either have to have a Time Square-sized menu board, or it could look like a bad day at the eye doctor's office."

-- Jack Whipple, president of the National Council of Chain Restaurants, on New York City's new rule requiring that certain restaurants post calorie information on menus. Restaurants contend that posting the information would be unwieldy and make menu boards difficult to read.

August 22, 2007

"It has become a pigment of my imagination."

-- Robb, an Ajax, Ontario tattoo artist, on his disappointment with UV ink, which he found did not glow as promised on the wrist of a co-worker. According to a Health Canada spokesperson, the ink is not legal for use in Canada. UV pigments are said to be carcinogenic.

October 3, 2007

"If we had banned candy bars, the manufacturers would have said, 'This isn't a candy bar, this is a brownie.' If we had banned brownies, they would have said, 'This isn't a brownie, it's a cookie.' If we had banned cookies, they would have said, 'This is bread.'"

-- Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, on why California's newly implemented statute regulating food nutrition in school concentrates on fat, sugar and calorie content instead of barring particular types of food. Goldstein helped design the law.

October 10, 2007

"We believe there is really no safe level of rocket fuel in our drinking water."

-- Bernadette Del Chiaro of the advocacy group Environment California, commenting on a regulation that takes effect on October 18, 2007, limiting the amount of perchlorate in California drinking water to six parts per billion. California will be the second state, after Massachusetts, to regulate perchlorate, which is also used as a rocket-fuel additive.

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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.