Public health law

HEALTH GROUPS FILE SECOND LAWSUIT AGAINST THE US FDA

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
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SAN FRANCISCO, April 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and the National Medical Association (NMA), represented by Christopher Leung of Leung Law PLLC, have filed a second lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Northern District of California for the agency's inaction on issuing a final rule banning menthol cigarettes. This lawsuit comes more than seven months after the FDA's initial date for finalizing the new rule and follows the FDA's 15-year delay in equitable policymaking.

Key Points: 
  • The initial complaint sought to compel the FDA to act on its earlier conclusions that removing menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health.
  • The joint lawsuit followed the 2013 Citizen Petition from the Public Health Law Center which called on the FDA to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes.
  • "We're extremely disappointed to be forced to file this second lawsuit against the FDA in support of protecting Americans from menthol cigarettes," said Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health.
  • As a result of the Plaintiffs' first lawsuit, the FDA made the landmark determination to add menthol to the list of banned characterizing flavors in cigarettes.

46 of America’s Largest Cities Garner Top Policy Medals in CityHealth’s 2023 Assessment

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
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This year, 46 cities (61%) were awarded overall medals, up from 37 cities (49%) in 2022.

Key Points: 
  • This year, 46 cities (61%) were awarded overall medals, up from 37 cities (49%) in 2022.
  • These cities qualified for overall gold by earning at least five gold medals across 12 individual policy areas: Boston, Minneapolis and Portland earned seven gold medals; and Denver, New Orleans, San Antonio and St. Louis earned six gold medals.
  • “The CityHealth assessment serves as a valuable benchmark for evaluating cities’ efforts in improving community health.
  • Similarly, 69% of cities earned medals for their Greenspace policies, with many prioritizing investments in parks that are driven by principals of equity.

Decriminalizing Drug Possession Not Linked to Higher Overdose Death Rates in Oregon or Washington

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
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The research team's goal was to investigate whether fully or partially decriminalizing drug possession changed rates of overdose deaths in either state in the first year after the policy change.

Key Points: 
  • The research team's goal was to investigate whether fully or partially decriminalizing drug possession changed rates of overdose deaths in either state in the first year after the policy change.
  • Critics, meanwhile, argue that decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs might increase drug use and subsequent fatal overdose.
  • "These two studies show that drug decriminalization measures in Oregon and Washington reduced arrests and did not increase overdose deaths.
  • The researchers then constructed a synthetic control group made up of 13 states that had similar rates of overdose to Oregon and 18 states that had similar rates to overdose in Washington pre-decriminalization.

ASTHO Legal Mapping Center Launches Maps of Harm Reduction Policies to Prevent Overdose

Retrieved on: 
Monday, August 7, 2023
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ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) today announced the launch of its new legal mapping center aimed at highlighting policies that may prevent overdose and help fight the opioid epidemic.

Key Points: 
  • ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) today announced the launch of its new legal mapping center aimed at highlighting policies that may prevent overdose and help fight the opioid epidemic.
  • With the overall goal of reducing the nation's overdose rates, the center created maps that visualize the national policy landscape of overdose prevention centers and laws supporting community distribution of naloxone and fentanyl test strips.
  • "Public health leaders can use these maps to identify strategies that we know lead to reductions in overdose rates," says Michael Fraser, PhD, chief executive officer of ASTHO.
  • The two maps, created using MonQcle, a legal mapping software by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law, are part of ASTHO's support of state and territorial overdose prevention efforts.

37 Cities Earn Overall Medals in CityHealth Assessment of New Prevention-Oriented Policy Package

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
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This year, 37 cities were awarded with overall medals, including Boston and Denver, which earned overall gold medals.

Key Points: 
  • This year, 37 cities were awarded with overall medals, including Boston and Denver, which earned overall gold medals.
  • “We congratulate and celebrate cities that are taking bold action to adopt policy solutions that can expand healthy choices available to all residents,” said CityHealth Co-Executive Director Katrina Forrest, JD.
  • These two cities qualified for overall gold by earning at least five gold medals in individual policy areas; Boston earned six golds and Denver earned five golds.
  • Between 2017 and 2021, CityHealth assessed America’s 40 largest cities on a nine-policy package with a strong record of success: nearly 93% of cities earned overall medals, and 10 exemplary cities earned an overall gold.

Report: 37 of the 40 Largest U.S. Cities Earn National Medal for Prioritizing Community Health

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
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Today, more than 44 million people live in a city that has earned an overall CityHealth medal.

Key Points: 
  • Today, more than 44 million people live in a city that has earned an overall CityHealth medal.
  • Overall medals are awarded based on the combined strength and number of health policies that cities have in place.
  • CityHealth is also growing its footprint in 2022 by including the nations largest 75 cities in its annual policy assessment.
  • Among the nations 40 largest cities, there are:
    For the first time, Albuquerque earned an overall gold medal and Oklahoma City earned an overall bronze medal.