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

Announcements

*** Thank You Public Health Professionals! The CDC Public Health Law News wishes to thank our friends and colleagues working in public health for all you do. Public Health Thank You Day is November 24, 2008. Visit http://www.publichealththankyouday.org/ for more information.

*** Global Alcohol Strategy. The World Health Assembly has held public hearings with Member States and other stakeholders on ways to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. To follow the progress of implementing the WHA61.4 resolution and preparing the draft strategy, visit http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities/globalstrategy/en/index.html.

*** Wisconsin Drinking Culture Special Report. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has published a 5-part series on drinking culture in Wisconsin. The series, "Wasted in Wisconsin," is available at http://www.jsonline.com/news/30565984.html.

*** HIV Testing Laws Compendium. The National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center has published a State HIV Testing Law Compendium, describing key state HIV testing laws and policies. To access the compendium, visit http://www.nccc.ucsf.edu/StateLaws/Index.html.

*** Medical Fitness to Drive Report. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released Medical Fitness to Drive and a Voluntary State Reporting Law, based on an evaluation of Missouri's Voluntary Reporting Law. Download the publication from http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/Medical
FitnesstoDriveReport.pdf.

*** Rabies Management Plan. In October, CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, with Canadian and Mexican authorities, signed the first North American Rabies Management Plan. To learn more about the plan, visit http://www.cdc.gov/news/2008/10/rabies.html.

*** Master Settlement Agreement Update. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have issued a report entitled A Decade of Broken Promises: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement Ten Years Later. To access the report, visit http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/.

*** Tobacco Regulations Table. Public Health Law and Policy's Technical Assistance Legal Center has released a Comparison of California and Local Laws Regulating Sales of Tobacco to Minors. Access the document at http://talc.phlpnet.org/pdf_files/0092.pdf.

*** WHO Guidelines for Tuberculosis and Air Travel. The World Health Organization has published "Tuberculosis and Air Travel: Guidelines for Prevention and Control." To download the guidelines, visit http://www.who.int/tb/publications/2008/WHO_HTM_TB_2008.399_eng.pdf.

*** Tuberculosis Incidents Report. The Government Accountability Office has released Public Health and Border Security: HHS and DHS Should Further Strengthen Their Ability to Respond to TB Incidents. Access the document at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0958.pdf.

*** Health Boards Authority Report. The National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) has published an updated and amplified State Statutory Authority for Local Boards of Health, available for purchase at http://www.nalboh.org/Publications.htm.

*** Mass Antibiotic Dispensing Broadcast (12/4). The Strategic National Stockpile will present a satellite broadcast and Webcast entitled "Mass Antibiotic Dispensing: Partnering with Tribal Governments and Communities," on December 4, 2008. The broadcast will be held from 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET. For more information, visit http://www2.cdc.gov/phtn/tribal/default.asp.

Top Story

1. Iowa: Iowa schools stretch to meet nursing law

States and Localities

2. California: Agency objects to clean truck program

3. Georgia: New Bibb cemetery ordinance draws national attention

4. New Jersey: NJ flu-shot mandate for preschoolers draws outcry

Tribal

5. Navajo Nation: EPA places stricter regulations on airborne lead

National

6. Courts give addicts a chance to straighten out

7. EPA places stricter regulations on airborne lead

Briefly Noted

California earthquake drill · Violent video game challenge · Colorado dogs in restaurants · Connecticut lead paint violations · Indiana sick food workers · Iowa FEMA trailers · Nebraska safe-haven law · Nevada hepatitis C outbreak · New Jersey casino smoking · New York menu calories · Reservation cigarettes · North Carolina tobacco suit · Ohio prison smoking ban · Pennsylvania menu labels · National voluntary nutrient standards · Banned toys · Australia teen tanning beds ban · Canada BPA ban · Raw milk challenge · HIV murder trial · Pesticide ban challenge · Croatia smoking ban · India smoking ban enforcement · Nepal meat inspection rules · New Zealand pig cell clinical trial · Nigeria tobacco suit · Philippines purified water · United Kingdom health and safety offences

Journal Articles

Florida vision screening law and older drivers · Health care and public defenders · Disaster preparedness and resilience · Building public health law capacity · Food industry and obesity commentary · Public health law communication · Ethical, legal, social newborn screening issues · Mill and law of quarantine · Medical-legal partnerships · HIV exposure law · Law and HAIs · Genetic tests regulation · Toxic tort and public health · Public health law training · Truck driver hours-of-service · Licensing older drivers in Europe · Scottish smoke-free law

Court Opinions

South Dakota cigarette suit · Federal prison conditions · Federal human cadaver tissues Daubert ruling

Quotation of the Month

Jonathan Agam, 13, Beverly Hills student

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"Iowa schools stretch to meet nursing law"

Des Moines Register     (11/10/08)     Staci Hupp

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081110/NEWS02/811100338/1001/

Dozens of school districts in Iowa are scrambling to meet the requirements of a 2007 law making school nurses mandatory. According to state records, at least 38 small school districts have no registered nurses on staff. The average salary for a registered nurse in Iowa is more than $35,000 a year -- a price many rural districts cannot afford. "There seems to be a shortage of [nurses] in all areas right now, and they could earn a pretty good wage going to the hospitals or clinics. How does the school compete with that?" asked Rick Pederson, superintendent of the Sumner and Fredericksburg school districts. The law does not specify a minimum number of hours per week the nurse must work, and some districts have gotten creative about meeting the requirement. For example, officials in Fredericksburg bought a fifth of the school nurse's contract in a nearby county. The nurse now spends one day a week in Fredericksburg. Others have been granted a waiver from the mandate, although waivers will not be granted after autumn 2009. The demand for skilled nursing has risen in recent years and is attributed to the mainstreaming of mentally and physically disabled children into public schools.

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"Agency objects to clean truck program"

Los Angeles Times     (10/30/08)     Ronald D. White

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/30/business/fi-ports30

The Federal Maritime Commission has asked a federal court to strike down parts of a "clean truck" program designed to cut pollution at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. The Commission said some components of the program "are likely, by a reduction in competition, to produce an unreasonable increase in transportation cost or unreasonable reduction in service." One of the parts of the program meeting with objection requires that truck drivers work only for approved concessionaires. The commission has not, however, sought to overturn a ban on the oldest, most-polluting trucks built before 1989. "The commission believes that the surgical removal of substantially anti-competitive elements of the agreement, such as the employee mandate, will permit the ports to implement on schedule those elements of the CTP [Clean Trucks Program] that produce clean air and improve public health," wrote the commission in a statement. Supporters of the program expressed their disapproval of the Commission's move. "The Commission is siding with a filthy industry and blocking the path to clean air and public health," said Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

[Editor's note: The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Coalition for Clean Air have filed suit against the Federal Maritime Commission for seeking to halt parts of the Clean Trucks Program. See "3 groups file suit to protect clean trucks plan," Associated Press (11/11/08) http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10956387.]

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"New Bibb cemetery ordinance draws national attention"

Macon Telegraph     (11/10/08)     Jennifer Burk

http://www.macon.com/198/story/520284.html

A recently-enacted ordinance in Bibb County, Georgia, thought to be the first of its kind in the United States, effectively prohibits "green" cemeteries on the basis of health and safety. Green cemeteries are those that use natural burial practices, such as no embalming fluid and only biodegradable coffins or shrouds. The new ordinance enacted by the Bibb County Commission sets strict rules regarding where cemeteries can be located and requires bodies to be buried in a leak-proof casket or vault, effectively banning a green cemetery that was planned for ten acres in the county. The Commission said decomposing bodies pose health and safety hazards to nearby residents. "It just flies in the face of common sense to say it poses no hazard to residents," Commissioner Lonzy Edwards said of natural burials, which he equated with not lining a landfill before dumping trash. Advocates expressed alarm at the new rule. "People who are concerned about leakage from bodies, I understand their concerns, but they're wrong. They're flat wrong," said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance.

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"NJ flu-shot mandate for preschoolers draws outcry"

Associated Press     (10/16/08)     David Crary

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081016/D93RQCN80.html

Last December, New Jersey's Public Health Council enacted a first-in-the-nation requirement that children receive a flu shot to attend preschools and day-care centers. The rule requires children from six months to five years of age who attend preschool or day-care to receive the vaccine before December 31, 2008, and has raised the ire of many New Jersey parents who say the decision to vaccinate belongs to them, not the state. "Vaccines not only protect the child being vaccinated but also the general community and the most vulnerable individuals within the community," said the New Jersey Health Department in a statement. A bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk would allow for conscientious objections to the vaccine (the state currently allows for medical and religious exemptions). "The right to informed consent is so basic," she said. "Parents have the right to decide for their own children what is injected in their bodies." The Health Department is strongly opposed to the bill, and argues that the state is uniquely vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases because of its high population density and many newly-arrived immigrants. Many of those protesting the New Jersey policy say they accept the need for mandatory vaccinations for highly dangerous diseases, but argue that the flu is not such a disease. However, federal statistics indicate that about 36,000 people in the United States are killed by the flu each year, and about 200,000 are hospitalized. While children make up only a small percentage of those numbers, the New Jersey Health Department has characterized young children as "particularly efficient" at transmitting the flu to others.

[Editor's note: For more information from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Vaccine Preventable Disease Program, visit "Questions and Answers on Immunization Regulations Pertaining to Children Attending School / Higher Education," http://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/documents/vaccine_qa.pdf and scroll to page 4.]

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"New Navajo law provides breast-feeing rights"

Associated Press     (10/22/08)     Felicia Fonseca

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/10/22/20081022navajo-breastfeed1022-ON.html

The Navajo Tribal Council has enacted a bill that would require employers on the reservation to provide a place for working women to breastfeed. The council voted 64-0 in favor of the Navajo Nation Healthy Start Act. If signed into law by Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., the provision would allow mothers unpaid time during their work day to breastfeed children or use a breast pump. Businesses would have 90 days to send a written plan detailing how they will comply with the law to the Office of Navajo Labor Relations. The Navajo Nation Labor Commission will oversee the law's enforcement. While mothers who breastfeed are already afforded some protections under existing tribal law, the new law would address concerns expressed by many women that they have difficulty asking their supervisors to breastfeed. "It's very hard on them emotionally. It's like they're asking for something they have no right to ask for," said Roberta Duncan, a member of a breastfeeding task force that pushed for the new law. Five thousand women of childbearing age would be affected by the new rule, according to Duncan. According to statistics from the federal Women, Infants and Children program, 74 percent of mothers on the reservation initially breastfeed, but only 35 percent continue to do so after six months, and only 23 percent breastfeed after 12 months. "As a mother, I feel it is a healthy start for our children, and this service to our babies will never end as long as we have females, we have pregnancies, we have child birth," said Council Delegate Alice Benally, who sponsored the measure.

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"Courts give addicts a chance to straighten out"

New York Times     (10/15/08)     Erik Eckholm

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/us/15drugs.html

Since the first drug court opened its doors in Miami in 1989, the concept has spread to more than 2,100 courtrooms in every state, and advocates and critics are weighing in on their effectiveness. According to C. West Huddleston III of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, 70,000 offenders are in adult or juvenile drug courts nationwide. The special courts give arrested drug addicts an opportunity to avoid prison by volunteering for 9 to 18 months of intensive supervision by a judge, including random urine testing, group therapy, and mandatory sobriety meetings. Critics of the courts say the process can infringe upon a defendant's rights by requiring an admission of guilt; if such a defendant fails the program, he or she must then serve a sentence without having fought the charges. Others believe the drug courts are unlikely to make a significant impact on the prison population, citing a dearth of judges with the required skills and talents to run a successful program. But recent studies show that drug courts have reduced recidivism on an average of eight to ten percent nationally, even among those who failed to complete the program. A report by the Urban Institute found that for 55,000 people in adult drug courts, supervision and treatment costs can reach half a billion dollars, but $1 billion is saved in reduced law enforcement, prison, and victim costs.

[Editor's note: To read the Urban Institute report, "Evidence on the prospects of expanding treatment to drug-involved offenders," visit http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411645_treatment_offenders.pdf.]

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"EPA places stricter regulations on airborne lead"

Washington Post     (10/17/08)     Juliet Eilperin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101601618.html

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently lowered the regulatory limit on airborne lead for the first time since 1978. Over 6,000 scientific studies have shown that young children suffer neurological harm at much lower blood lead levels than was recognized when the standard was set thirty years ago. The majority of airborne lead is thought to come from lead smelters and then fall to the ground, where children are exposed to it in indoor dust and soil. More than 300,000 children in the United States exhibit some effects of lead poisoning. "America's air is cleaner today than just a generation ago. And just last night I built upon this progress by signing the strongest air-quality standards for lead in our nation's history....This action will improve public health, especially for children," said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. While public health advocates and environmentalists praised the decision, some questioned EPA's plans for measuring lead pollution. "We commend EPA for taking a giant step in the right direction, but they need to greatly expand the lead-monitoring network if they hope to enforce this new standard. However...with less than 200 air lead monitors nationwide, scientists don't even know how much lead is in the air in most communities," said Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. According to Johnson, EPA will expand its monitoring network.

_____________________BRIEFLY NOTED______________________

California: Earthquake drill uses Internet to organize millions to "drop, cover and hold on"

"Californians drill for day none want to arrive"

New York Times     (11/14/08)     Randal C. Archibold

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/us/14quake.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

California: Federal appeals panel hears challenge to 2005 ban on violent game sales to minors

"Court weighs Calif. law on violent video games"

Associated Press     (10/29/08)     Samantha Young

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10847017

Colorado: City allows dogs on restaurant patios

"Rule letting dogs on cafe patios has tails wagging"

Rocky Mountain News     (11/03/08)     Melanie Asmar

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/03/rule-letting-dogs-on-cafe-patios-has-tails/

Connecticut: EPA considers lead paint fines for New England realtors

"Realtors violated rules on lead paint"

New Haven Register     (11/07/08)     Luther Turmelle

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/11/07/business/d1-_lead7.txt

Indiana: Health officials begin to require policies for excluding workers with certain illnesses

"Health dept.: sick food workers must stay home"

Star Press     (10/27/08)     Seth Slabaugh

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20081027/NEWS01/810270329/1002

Iowa: Supervisors allow flood victims to place trailers on lots next to damaged homes

"County amends zoning ordinance to legalize FEMA trailers"

Waterloo Courier     (10/29/08)     Tim Jamison

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/10/29/news/metro/10720427.txt

Nebraska: Legislature to fix over-inclusive safe haven law after parents abandon teens

"Nebraska to alter safe-haven law"

Washington Post     (11/16/08)     Peter Slevin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502416.html

Nevada: District Court ends plans to file on behalf of thousands

"Class-action lawsuit rejected in hepatitis C outbreak"

Las Vegas Review-Journal     (11/06/08)     Paul Harasim

http://www.lvrj.com/news/33988974.html

New Jersey: City Council votes to relieve casinos from poor economy, declining revenues

"Atlantic City suspends casino smoking ban"

Associated Press    (10/28/08)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/nyregion/28ac.html?ref=nyregion

New York: County joins ranks of those requiring calories on menu boards for some chains

"Calories-on-menus measure OK's 15-1 in Westchester"

Journal News     (11/11/08)     Candice Ferrette

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081111/NEWS02/811110384&s=d&page=1#pluckcomments

New York: Motion filed in federal court to bar reservation dealers from selling untaxed smokes

"City tries to curtail cigarette sales from reservation"

New York Times     (10/29/08)     Stephanie Saul

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/nyregion/29cigarettes.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

North Carolina: Tobacco company alleges conspiracy to stifle competition

"General Tobacco sues 52 attorneys general"

Associated Press     (10/28/08)

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081028/general_tobacco_lawsuit.html?.v=1

Ohio: Institutions to go tobacco free on March 1

"Prisons to outlaw smoking"

Akron Beacon Journal     (11/02/08)     Phil Trexler

http://www.ohio.com/news/33711024.html

Pennsylvania: Menus to list calories, saturated fat, trans fat, carbs, sodium

"What's new on menu? Labeling"

Philadelphia Inquirer     (11/07/08)     Michael Klein

http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20081107_What_s_new_on_menu__Labeling.html

National: Companies work with scientists, retailers, academics on "Smart Choices Program"

"Some big food companies adopt nutrient standards"

New York Times     (10/28/08)     Andrew Martin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/business/28food.html

National: Unintended consequence of phthalate ban floods market with ducks

"Toys containing banned plastics still on market"

Wall Street Journal     (10/23/08)     Nicholas Casey and Melanie Trottman

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122472242723860917.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (subscription required)

Australia: Cosmetic surgery, tanning beds ruled off limits for under-18s

"Teens banned from solariums"

Gold Coast Bulletin     (10/31/08)     Suzanne Lappeman

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/10/31/19141_gold-coast-top-story.html

Canada: Gov't will ban plastic baby bottles with bisphenol A

"Canada labels BPA a toxin"

Associated Press     (10/19/08)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/18/AR2008101802314.html

Canada: Farmer vows to keep selling raw milk

"Raw-milk farmer seeks maximum penalty"

Canadian Press     (10/21/08)     Clint Thomas

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081020.wmilktrial1020/BNStory/National/home
?cid=al_gam_mostview

Canada: Nation's first HIV murder trial begins

"Murder trial hears Ont. man didn't tell partners he had HIV"

Canwest News Service     (10/21/08)     Jordana Huber

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=ba4e48dc-f995-4d47-955c-f0684b78f154

Canada: NAFTA challenge by Dow Chemical seeks $2 million for health and safety rule

"Quebec defends pesticide ban"

Gazette     (10/23/08)

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=0e304f4b-60d8-42e6-81fb-a9c3220b2547

Croatia: Smoking banned in all public institutions and work places

"Croatia adopts tough anti-smoking law"

Agence France Presse     (10/17/08)

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMfUST_2NunkfsSHBSM9FeByjZmw

India: Officials face unique challenges enforcing smoking ban

"India's anti-smoking drive meets with peculiar problems"

Agence France Presse     (11/12/08)     Parul Gupta

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g2417nmTR5-XLF-FRNkxFqcN92mA

Nepal: Health officials unable to implement slaughterhouse, meat inspection rules

"Meat Act gathers dust, public health in peril"

Kathmandu Post     (11/08/08)     Dev Kumar Sunuwar

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=165875

New Zealand: Health minister gives approval for diabetes trial

"Go-ahead for pig cell trial on humans"

Dominion Post     (10/22/08)     Ruth Hill

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4735167a11.html

Nigeria: Tobacco maker alleged to be evading service

"Philip Morris stalls hearing in N130 billion tobacco suit"

Africa News     (10/30/08)     Ise-Oluwa Ige and Ikechukwu Nnochiri

http://allafrica.com/stories/200810300275.html

Philippines: City Council passes rule to allay fears of diners

"Valenzuela passes ordinance requiring food establishments to serve purified water"

Philippines News Agency     (11/05/08)

http://balita.ph/2008/11/03/valenzuela-passes-ordinance-requiring-food-establishments-to-serve-purified-water/

United Kingdom: New law increases fines, threatens prison for health and safety offences

"Tougher penalties for health and safety offences"

Journal     (11/11/08)     Mieka Smiles

http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-sector-reports/sector-and-industry-reports/cutting_red_tape/2008/11/13/
tougher-penalties-for-health-and-safety-offences-51140-22251145/

OBITUARIES

National: FL Rep. took leading role in passing dozens of laws promoting health, environment

"Paul G. Rogers, 'Mr. Health' in Congress, is dead at 87"

New York Times     (10/15/08)     Dennis Hevesi

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/us/15rogers.html

National: Past AMA president continued public health advocacy to the end

"Remembering Ron Davis, MD"

Tobacco Control     (10/08)     Michael Cummings and others

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/misc/obituary.dtl

___________________JOURNAL ARTICLES____________________

"The impact of a vision screening law on older driver fatality rates"

Archives of Ophthalmology     (11/08)     Gerald McGwin Jr. and others

http://archopht.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/126/11/1544 (subscription required)

"Bringing health care advocacy to a public defender's office"

American Journal of Public Health     (11/08)     Homer Venters and others

http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2007.126524v1 (subscription required)

"Building human resilience: the role of public health preparedness and response..."

American Journal of Preventive Medicine     (11/08)     Mark E. Keim

http://www.ajpm-online.net/article/S0749-3797(08)00687-9/abstract (subscription required)

"Building public health law capacity at the local level"

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics     (Fall 2008)    Diane E. Hoffmann and Virginia Rowthorn

http://www.jlme.org/cgi/reprint/36/3_Suppl/6 (subscription required)

"Can the food industry play a constructive role in the obesity epidemic?"

JAMA     (10/15/08)     David S. Ludwig and Marion Nestle

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/300/15/1808 (subscription required)

"Enhancing public health law communication linkages"

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics     (Fall 2008)     Ross D. Silverman

http://www.jlme.org/cgi/reprint/36/3_Suppl/29 (subscription required)

"Ethical, legal, and social issues in health technology assessment for prenatal/preconceptional..."

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?doi=10.1159/000153430 (subscription required)

"J.S. Mill and the American law of quarantine"

Public Health Ethics     (09/08)     Wendy E. Parmet

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=1260387 (registration required)

"Medical-legal partnerships: transforming health care"

Lancet     (11/08/08)     Barry Zuckerman and others

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(08)61670-0/fulltext (subscription required)

"Preventing HIV transmission via HIV exposure laws: applying logic and mathematical..."

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics     (09/08)     Carol L. Galletly and Steven D. Pinkerton

http://www.jlme.org/cgi/reprint/36/3/577 (subscription required)

"Public health law for the collection and reporting of health care-associated infections"

American Journal of Infection Control     (10/08)     Benjamin Mason Meier and others

http://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(08)00553-1/abstract (subscription required)

"The regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests"

Human Molecular Genetics     (10/15/08)     Jane Kaye

http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/R2/R180 (subscription required)

"The synergy of toxic tort law and public health: lessons from a century of cigarettes"

Connecticut Law Review     (10/08)     Jean M. Eggen

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1285547 (registration required)

"Training individuals in public health law"

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics     (Fall Supp. 2008)     Jason A. Smith

http://www.jlme.org/cgi/reprint/36/3_Suppl/50 (subscription required)

"Work schedules of long-distance truck drivers before and after ... hours-of-service rule change"

Traffic Injury Prevention     (05/08)     Anne T. McCartt and others

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a793687785~db=all~order=page (subscription required)

"The licensing of older drivers in Europe -- a case study"

Traffic Injury Prevention     (08/08)     C.G.B. Mitchell

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a901522952~db=all~order=page (subscription required)

"Scottish smoke-free legislation and trends in smoking cessation"

Addiction     (11/08)     Freya J.I. Fowkes and others

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121458999/abstract (subscription required)

___________________COURT OPINIONS____________________

South Dakota: State court lacks personal jurisdiction over cigarette maker

State v. Grand River Enterprises

South Dakota Supreme Court

2008 SD 98

Filed October 22, 2008

Opinion by Judge Lori S. Wilbur

http://www.sdjudicial.com/opinions/downloads/y2008/24804.pdf

Federal: Court documents unconstitutional prison conditions, orders changes

Graves v. Arpaio

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

No. CV-77-0479-PHX-NVW

Filed October 22, 2008

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Order by Judge Neil V. Wake

http://www.azd.uscourts.gov/azd/courtinfo.nsf/DBD9D963D05115AB072574EA00791DBB/$file/77-0479-1634.pdf?openelement

Federal: Plaintiff expert opinions found inadmissible under Daubert standard

In re Human tissue Products Liability Litigation

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Civ. No. 06-135 MDL No. 1763

Filed October 22, 2008

Opinion by Judge William J. Martini

http://druganddevicelaw.net/Opinions%20in%20blog/Bodysnatchers%20SJ%20opinion.pdf

__________PHL NEWS QUOTATION OF THE MONTH___________

"I guess I'm supposed to say 'ow.' I said 'ow' earlier, but everyone just kept walking."

-- Jonathan Agam, 13, Beverly Hills student, on his performance during the recent Great Southern California ShakeOut, during which he was instructed to feign an abdominal injury. According to organizers, some 5.3 million people registered to participate in the event -- a magnitude 7.8 earthquake -- on the group's Website (http://www.shakeout.org). The drill brought together emergency agencies, schools, businesses, and individuals. [See Briefly Noted item, above.]

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