Health Law & Policy

This spring, more than 370 people interested in food systems attended a two-day conference at Harvard Law School, the 2016 Just Food? Forum on Land Use, Rights and Ecology.

When a severe speech impediment left him struggling to be understood, food became a way for Tommy Tobin '16 to connect with others. In high school he volunteered at a food bank and with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and watched his actions speak volumes. "Speaking through service became a theme for me.”

There is now a cure for Hepatitis C. But in some states, Medicaid won’t pay for it until patients become seriously and irrevocably ill. Harvard Law’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation is trying to change that—through research, advocacy and litigation.

“FDA in the 21st Century: The Challenges of Regulating Drugs and New Technologies,” edited by Holly Fernandez Lynch and I. Glenn Cohen ’03 (Columbia). Stemming from a 2013 conference at HLS, the book features essays covering major developments that have changed how the FDA regulates; how the agency encourages transparency; First Amendment issues; access to drugs; and evolving issues in drug-safety communication. These issues, the editors write, lie “at the heart of our health and health care.”

On March 29, the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School celebrated its first decade and kicked off the next with a conference that focused on the future of health law and policy.

Each year, teams of Harvard Law School students are given the opportunity to spend their Spring Break experiencing legal services work with clinics and legal organizations in the Boston area, or working on projects around the country and abroad--here, a few students share their accounts, reflecting on the significance of their service.

Across HLS, faculty are focusing on international access to lifesaving drugs for underserved populations. One forthcoming book, “The Health Crisis in the Developing World and…

The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) today announced a new collaboration, The Project on Advanced Care and Health Policy.

This is the last in the Harvard Gazette's series on inequality, one of America’s most vexing problems, examining Harvard’s ground-level efforts to make a difference in the surrounding communities, and beyond.

During the 2016 winter term, 65 HLS students traveled to 30 countries conducting research for writing projects or undertaking independent clinicals, with support from the Winter Term International Travel Grant Program. The following are snapshots of 11 student experiences.

Climenko Fellow Leah Litman coauthored the petitioner’s brief for clinics and doctors in Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a case dealing with Texas state law restrictions on abortion clinic operations.

Harvard Magazine recently featured a story on the evolution of animal law in the United States, highlighting the new HLS Animal Law & Policy Program and faculty director Kristen Stilt. In February, to commemorate Animal Law Week, Harvard Law School hosted a series of animal law lunchtime talks, with topics ranging from Islamic law, direct democracy, and environmental law.

Baltimore Corps wants to make Baltimore the social change capital of America; recently, its co-founder Fagan Harris shared his vision with 40 students at Harvard Law School.

Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Zubik v. Burwell, an Affordable Care Act (ACA) challenge set for argument on March 26. The brief asks the Court to affirm Court of Appeals’ decisions upholding the federal policy of maintaining access to free preventive care, including contraceptive services, in employer-sponsored health plans.

The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), in partnership with Racing Horse Productions, has released a short film, "EXPIRED? Food Waste in America," that explores how the variety of date labels on food products contributes to food waste in America.

The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic has released a policy brief about changes to the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act (CNR) that can support healthy school meals by preserving advances in nutrition standards, increasing participation in national school programs, and increased funding for reimbursable meals, farm to school grants, and kitchen equipment grants.

As the growth of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” transforms more rural landscapes across the heartland into industrial zones, companies are less willing to disclose the chemicals they inject into the ground, Harvard researchers have found.

Participants in a recent gathering at Harvard Law School are hoping to spark the growth of a nationwide student network for making significant contributions to the emerging field of food law and policy.

The final round of Harvard Law School’s 2015 Ames Moot Court Competition, one of the most prestigious competitions for appellate brief writing and advocacy in the country, took place on Nov. 16 in Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall.

A look behind the scenes of the final round of Harvard Law School’s 2015 Ames Moot Court Competition, one of the most prestigious competitions for appellate brief writing and advocacy in the country.

The recent installation of 312 solar panels atop the WCC building on the Harvard Law School campus is the latest step toward helping HLS meet Harvard’s sustainability goals, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2016.