HEALTH LAW COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

THE UH LAW CENTER OFFERS THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE health law curriculum in the country, with 30-plus courses taught by faculty from the Health Law & Policy Institute. In addition, the UH Law Center has recognized strengths in the complementary fields of intellectual property, international law, business/transactional law, trial advocacy, and other areas. Students are also permitted to enroll in relevant courses offered by other graduate programs at UH, The University of Texas School of Public Health, and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Core health law classes at the UH Law Center are taught by full-time faculty members with national and international reputations. The curriculum is also enriched by successful practicing attorneys who serve as adjunct professors—adding a different perspective to the topics they teach. The following is a list of recent health law offerings. Not all classes are offered every year, and offerings are subject to change. Please check the Website for current course offerings.

ADVANCED HEALTH LAW*/** provides LL.M. students with an opportunity to develop and present their own research projects as well as to survey selected topics. This course is limited to, and required for, LL.M. students. 1 Credit.

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND THE LAW explores the impact that biotechnology has on specific areas of law and business. Topics include intellectual property and its exploitation, regulatory affairs, human subject research, privacy concerns, and public policy issues. 2 Credits.

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS offers students a broad view of children and the law, including health-related topics. The course covers such areas as abuse and neglect; sexual abuse; special education; children’s disabilities; medical decision-making; health, safety, and welfare regulations affecting children; and government entitlement programs. 3 Credits.

COMPARATIVE HEALTH LAW examines, in a comparative context, the right to health care and its implementation; the rights of patients in relationship to health care professionals and institutions; a patient’s right to self-determination and competing considerations; and the rights of the individual and the interests of society. 2 Credits.

DIRECTED RESEARCH gives students an opportunity to earn academic credit for participating in an ongoing research project under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. Students learn appropriate research techniques, explore newly developing issues in Health Law & Policy, and have an opportunity to work under the direction of the Institute’s distinguished faculty. 1 or 2 Credits.

DISABILITIES AND THE LAW addresses legal issues affecting persons with disabilities, including education, employment, architectural barriers, transportation, public accommodations, public services, housing, and access to health care. 3 Credits.

E-HEALTH LAW SEMINAR examines regulatory approaches to new technology (including telemedicine, cybermedicine, and medical privacy) by state legislatures, boards of medicine and pharmacy, and federal agencies. It also examines efforts by the American Medical Association, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
(NABP), the Federation of State Medical Boards, and other organizations to address e-health issues. 2 Credits.

ELDER LAW explores financial and end-of-life planning for the elderly, including the use of trusts, wills, advance directives, and powers of attorney; examines the role of the guardian and attorney ad litem; analyzes the role of Medicare and Medicaid; and considers the legal aspects of home health, assisted living, and nursing home
alternatives for senior citizen care. 2 Credits.

FOOD AND DRUG LAW deals with the federal government’s attempts to protect the public health and individual welfare in the development and marketing of foods, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics. The course focuses on the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, with particular emphasis on the regulation of drugs, nutritional supplements, and medical devices. 2 Credits.

FORENSIC MEDICINE addresses current social issues that affect both legal and medical principles and practice. This course requires students to explore those issues that demand greater collaborative interaction between law and medicine as the early 21st century presents new challenges to society’s health and welfare. In addition, the course provides students with an understanding of how to use forensic medical evidence and experts in their law practice and litigation. 2 Credits.

FRAUD AND ABUSE** examines federal and state laws that impose criminal and civil penalties on health care providers for a variety of fraudulent activities. The course explores the implications of the federal Anti-Kickback statute, civil monetary penalty and exclusion laws, anti-referral (Stark) laws, and false claim laws, as well as
traditional federal white collar criminal laws applied to health care. 3 Credits.

GENETICS AND THE LAW* examines new developments in genetics tied to the Human Genome Project, including issues involving reproduction, access to health care, discrimination, privacy, forensics, and gene therapy. 2 or 3 Credits.

HEALTH LAW I: BIOETHICS AND QUALITY OF CARE is an introductory health law course focusing on bioethics and the mechanisms for assuring quality of health care. Bioethics
topics include death and dying, reproductive technologies, organ donation/transplantation, and public health. The course also surveys the major mechanisms ensuring the quality of health care, including medical malpractice and professional licensure. 3 Credits.

HEALTH LAW II: ACCESS, REGULATION, AND ENTERPRISE is an introductory health law course addressing the regulation, structure, and financing of the American health care system. Health care regulation and structural issues include how health care institutions are legally organized, accreditation, medical staff disputes, managed care, fraud and abuse, health care transactions, and antitrust. Health care access and financing issues include private health insurance, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, Medicare, and
Medicaid. 3 Credits.

HEALTH LAW CLINIC*/** gives students the opportunity to gain experience in the health law field through placements in nonprofit or governmental agencies, such as a hospital’s general counsel’s office or risk management department, or a nonprofit advocacy group. The clinic requires completion of a classroom educational component as well. 3 or 5 Credits for J.D. students; 3 Credits for LL.M. students.

HEALTH LEGISLATION SEMINAR*/** focuses on state legislation, but also addresses issues relating to federal legislation, city codes, and regulations. The seminar includes coverage of legislative and regulatory drafting, as well as the procedural and political process of getting legislation passed and regulations implemented. 2 Credits.

HEALTH LAW TRANSACTIONS** explores the application of federal and state regulatory principles to health care transactions. In this course, students gain exposure to the document drafting and review aspects of typical health care transactions. This course assumes general familiarity with issues discussed in Health Law II, e.g., the corporate practice of medicine doctrine, antitrust, and fraud and abuse. 2 Credits.

HEALTH PRIVACY examines the health information privacy standards of the Administrative Simplification provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The course also addresses state health information privacy laws, including the privacy provisions set forth in the Texas Hospital Licensing Law, the Texas Medical Practice Act, and the Texas Medical Records Privacy Act. 2 Credits.

HIV AND THE LAW explores the legal implications of HIV infection for public health policy, education, employment, insurance, health care, and criminal law. 2 Credits.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH AND WRITING*/** gives students the opportunity to study subjects reflective of their own interests and concerns, culminating in the preparation of a research paper that students are encouraged to publish. Students pursue their research projects under the supervision of full-time faculty members (absent permission of the Vice Dean). 1-3 Credits.

INSURANCE LAW examines the regulation of insurance contracts and insurance companies, including underwriting regulation, doctrines of contract interpretation, claims-processing regulation, solvency regulation, and special remedies for breach. The course covers both the property/casualty and life/health “sides” of the insurance industry, with an emphasis on policy issues and economics. 3 Credits.

INTERSESSION COURSE is taught each year. The Institute invites a distinguished professor to teach a course in health law to our J.D. and LL.M. students during our intersession in early January. Classes meet on a highly condensed schedule, allowing students to earn two course credits in the two-week intersession. Recent visitors
include: Professor Larry Gostin, Georgetown (Advanced Public Health Law & Ethics); Professor Hank Greely, Stanford (Genetics and the Law); Professor Timothy Jost, Washington & Lee (Comparative Health Law); and Professor Timothy Caulfield, University of Alberta (International Biotechnology Policy). 2 Credits.

LAW AND PSYCHIATRY is a study of current topics in law and psychiatry, including civil commitment, right to treatment, right to refuse treatment, competency to stand trial, the insanity defense, and the psychiatrist’s role in the sentencing process. 2 or 3 Credits.

LEGAL ASPECTS OF BIOETHICS* examines the legal, ethical, and policy aspects of current controversies in bioethics. Topics include privacy and confidentiality, terminal care decisions, patients’ rights to refuse treatment, organ donation and transplantation, and experimentation involving human subjects. 2 Credits.

LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE SEMINAR addresses federal and state regulation of the life and health insurance industry. The health insurance component addresses the major federal regulatory statutes (ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA), as well as state initiatives. 3 Credits.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LITIGATION* is a broad-based study of malpractice law and policy, including the effect of malpractice on health care access, quality, and cost; malpractice legal doctrine; and legislative reforms. 2 Credits.

MEDICARE** provides an overview of the Medicare program with a focus on structural, coverage, and reimbursement issues. Other topics include the history of the program, efforts to expand the availability of managed care options for Medicare beneficiaries, current fraud and abuse issues, and the future solvency and structure of the program. 3 Credits.

PRODUCTS LIABILITY is a general survey of the field. The course emphasizes the recent changes in products liability jurisprudence, which demonstrate greater concern for injuries caused by drugs and other toxic exposures posing significant health risks to the public. 2 or 3 Credits.

PUBLIC HEALTH LAW SEMINAR*/** provides an overview of basic public health principles and the governing law. The course examines the legal basis for public health regulation and explores the tensions among public health activities, civil liberties, property rights, and other significant interests. The course also examines current policy
issues, including immunization, bioterrorism, forced medical treatment, disease reporting and surveillance, infectious disease control, and tobacco regulation. 2 Credits.

REGULATION OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH SEMINAR* reviews the history of biomedical and behavioral research with human subjects; the work of past and present government commissions charged with the protection of human research subjects; the legal and administrative regulation of human subject research; and ethical issues presented by human subject research. 2 Credits.

REGULATION OF HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS* explores the regulatory environment affecting physicians and other health care professionals, including licensing, staff privileges, and peer review. 2 Credits.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SEMINAR offers an overview of topics in scientific evidence with a focus on mass and toxic torts. The primary impetus for the seminar is the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and the application of the case and its progeny to a range of claims in which scientific evidence plays a key role. 3 Credits.

SPECIAL TOPICS IN DISCRIMINATION LAW: SEXUAL ORIENTATION explores the relationship between sexual identity and the law by examining the manner in which the state regulates
sexuality, gender, gender roles, and sexual orientation in a variety of substantive legal areas, including employment law, criminal law, and family law. 2 Credits.

WOMEN AND HEALTH CARE LAW SEMINAR* examines the gender implications of our system of health care. Gender issues arise in many contexts, and include reproductive rights,
confidentiality and informed consent, health care financing, and criminal law. 2 or 3 Credits.

* Completion of Health Law I, concurrent enrollment in Health Law I, or permission of instructor required.
** Completion of Health Law II, concurrent enrollment in Health Law II, or permission of instructor required.