Suchergebnisse

Model public health laws (public health laws or private policies publicly recommended by at least 1 organization for adoption by government bodies or by specified private entities) are promoted as exemplary. We assessed the information sponsors of model public health laws provide on the methods used in developing their models and on their models' adoption and effectiveness.

Law influenced every aspect of the public health response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, from evacuation orders, to waivers of medical licensing requirements, to the clean-up of public health threats on private property. We used public health surveillance of news reports to identify and characterize legal issues arising during the disaster response in 5 Gulf Coast states. Data collected from news reports of the events in real time were followed-up by interviews with selected state legal and emergency management officials. Our analysis indicates the value of surveillance during and after emergency responses in identifying public health–related legal issues and helps to inform the strengthening of legal preparedness frameworks for future disasters.

From April 2004 through December 2004, we reviewed the express legal authorities of the 10 most populous US states to restrict the movement of persons to control communicable diseases. All 10 of the states possessed express legal authority to quarantine and isolate individuals, but the laws varied substantially. In the absence of declared emergencies, only 4 states had express authority to conduct area quarantine, and only 2 states had express authority to conduct group quarantine. During declared emergencies, 7 states had additional authorities for area quarantine. Express authorities are only part of states' legal powers to employ such movement restrictions, but substantial variation in express authorities across states could present potential challenges for the coordination of large national or regional epidemics.