News & Insights

Public health law plays a critical role in protecting communities from the current and future health threats posed by climate change. Based on their work with communities and public health professionals, the Network’s Climate and Health team has identified 10 public health law strategies to equitably prepare communities for the health impacts of climate change.

Traffic crashes remain the leading cause of death for teenagers both in the United States and worldwide. As cars have continuously gotten bigger, heavier, and more advanced, states’ legal frameworks for training and licensing new drivers have remained largely unchanged since the early 2000s. Integrating technology into the training and licensing process for new drivers is an innovative approach with the potential to greatly improve driver safety.

Intersectionality is defined as “the framework for understanding how various aspects of individual identity interact to create unique experiences of privilege or oppression. People who use drugs are often part of multiple minority groups, compounding the effect of their identities on their experiences and increasing the likelihood that they will experience oppression in systems. 

Recent litigation under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause has challenged school vaccination requirements that do not allow for a religious exemption. The rulings in these cases have important implications for public health.

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $20 billion in grant awards to fund the purchase of heat pumps, which provide multiple economic, environmental, and health benefits. This federal initiative holds promising opportunities for advancing public health efforts to address the negative and disparate impacts of climate change.

Since 2019, the Network has participated in the East Side Health and Well-being Collaborative (“the Collaborative”), a dynamic and diverse coalition of two dozen organizations dedicated to advancing community health equity on St. Paul’s East Side in Minnesota. Serving as a core Partner on the Collaborative, the Network plays a pivotal role, co-founding and leading the Collaborative’s Policy Work Group; providing training on the intersection between health equity, public health, and law and policy; helping identify specific policies that support the Collaborative’s program goals; and participating in and contributing to collaborative activities. We hope by sharing the Collaborative’s unique approach and our learnings as a Partner, we can inform how the public health law field can engage in similar efforts which can positively impact the people and populations we serve, the sectors we reside in, the communities in which we live, and the systems we seek to change.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has assessed the current risk of avian flu to the general public as low. However, the CDC, in collaboration with federal, state, and local partners, continues to monitor and assess the risk to human health. This Q&A provides answers to basic questions about who is doing what in response to the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the U.S. and includes a basic overview of the current situation and overall public health risk.  

As part of the Network’s leadership team, Dang will oversee the work of the Network project and regional teams in advancing law and policy solutions and providing direct legal technical assistance to those working to create healthier, more equitable communities. He will also work closely with external partners in public health, as well as community, philanthropic and advocacy organizations working to advance health in their communities.

Overdose Good Samaritan laws, which generally provide limited protections from arrest or prosecution for drug-related crimes, have been passed in most states. The limited protection these laws offer is often insufficient. A recently passed law in Maine that provides immunity from all but a small number of crimes, while not perfect, is a step towards improving the effectiveness of these laws.

Thanks to recent action by the Department of Agriculture, school lunches will become more nutritious. As the new federal standards roll out, states can support students’ health by increasing access to free school breakfast and lunch. Eight states have passed Health School Meals for All policies, providing comprehensive access to free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of income.

Title X is a federal grant program that funds family planning and reproductive health care services in the U.S. Two states with abortion bans recently loss Title X grant funding because of the grant's requirement that pregnant patients receive counseling options that include abortion. While the federal government had the right to terminate funding, clients (who are mostly young and have low incomes) lost access to important care as a result of their states' decision to ban abortion.

On March 18, 2024, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a bulletin updating guidance on the use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA covered entities and their business associates. The bulletin, which updates OCR’s December 2022 guidance on the same topic, follows renewed warnings from OCR on the dangers of online tracking technologies and comes amidst increased attention to the privacy risks that these technologies pose