News & Insights

As food allergies become more prevalent, there is increased risk of harm from serious and life-threatening reactions. However, this risk is frequently overlooked or disregarded by the food service industry. While federal law requires the packaged food industry to label any major allergens in their products, there is no mandate that restaurants do so. In response, several states have enacted legislation requiring food-service establishments to take additional food allergen precautions.

As more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana use, they are being confronted with a broad spectrum of policy issues. One of the emerging issues is whether to allow the legal cannabis industry to deliver marijuana directly to customers. Advocates see it as an issue of access, especially for medical marijuana patients. Opponents argue that delivery will make it easier for kids to get marijuana and that the delivery vehicles will be targeted by criminals.

Addressing legal and policy barriers to evidence-based interventions that center the health and dignity of people who use drugs.

Trees are beautiful, but are they also a cure for climate change related health hazards? We know that trees beautify urban spaces, increase property values, reduce stress, improve mental health, and benefit communities by reducing crime rates and increasing social cohesion. But tree cover can also provide significant cooling benefits to offset dangerous temperatures during extreme heat events, which are on the rise in urban areas as a result of climate change.

Apply to join a 6-month cohort of MLPs seeking to improve the safety and quality of housing in their communities through upstream efforts, ranging from informing implementation and enforcement strategies, to spearheading impact litigation, to contributing in large and small ways to legal changes.

Amicus brief filed on January 16, 2020, in the case In re A Community Voice v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency regarding the EPA’s final rule, “Review of the Dust-Lead Hazard Standards and the Definition of Lead-Based Paint.”

Overdose “Good Samaritan” laws are theoretically designed to encourage people to call for help in an overdose emergency by providing limited legal immunity to overdose victims and those who seek help for them, but many of these laws currently have limitations that discourage people from seeking help.

A public health professional contacted the Network to ask if the Network could provide them with data use agreement templates for use by local public health authorities?

In 2020, we’re focusing on ways to further empower the public health workforce with the knowledge, skills and tools needed to support programs that will have lasting impact.

In the midst of New York City’s largest measles outbreak in three decades, health officials from the city reached out to the Network for its expertise in utilizing vaccination laws and mandates to protect the public’s health. Network attorneys provided the agency with the research and information it needed to make the best evidence-based decisions for its communities—decisions that would prevent or survive legal challenge.

Due to a shortage of dental care providers, an inequitable burden of preventable oral health disease persists for many Americans. Public health officials in Minnesota sought legal and policy pathways to expand access to care in their state. Research and analysis by the Network outlined collaborative practice strategies dental professionals can utilize to expand access to oral health care in Minnesota and nationwide.

Healthy soil contains organic matter that contributes to the nutritional quality of food and can have a significant impact on agricultural output. It also plays a critical role in mitigating the effects of climate change by reducing erosion and storm water runoff, protecting against drought, and reducing carbon emissions. Policymakers at both the federal and local level are increasingly including laws and provisions that promote healthy soils in their environmental policies and legislation.