Dear Friends & Colleagues,

It was wonderful seeing so many of you in June at the 46th annual Health Law Professors Conference here in Baltimore and we hope to see you again next year in Philadelphia! Since then, our faculty, staff, and students have been busy with a number of new initiatives. Our 2023/2024 Rothenberg Speaker Series focusing on AI in healthcare kicked off with an opening talk from I Glenn Cohen on Medical AI: Regulatory and Ethical Challenges, and will continue on November 9 (this afternoon) when Nita Farahany joins to speak about The Battle for Your Brain. Our students and alumni continue to take what they have learned to change the world, while our faculty continue their impressive and groundbreaking work. We are also planning our Spring Symposium on Drug Pricing, and the Charm City Colloquium, both of which will be held here in the spring. Details about each of these initiatives, plus our most recent Ethics Committee Newsletter, are provided below. We look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events!

Diane E. Hoffmann
Jacob A. France Professor of Health Law
Distinguished University Professor
Director, Law & Health Care Program and
Maryland Healthcare Ethics Committee Network
University of Maryland Carey School of Law

Professor Natalie Ram, a leading scholar on the intersection of genetic privacy and the law published “Generating Genuine Data Protection", in which she reviews Carleen M. Zubrzycki’s The Abortion Interoperability Trap.

Professor Matiangai Sirleaf continues her scholarship on global health, with recent publications including publishing White Health as Global Health (117 AJIL Unbound 88),  Decolonization of Global Health Law: Lessons from International Environmental Law (51 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 450, with Alexandra Phelan, and Global Health Landscape: The Proliferating Actors Influencing Global Health Governance, in Global Health Law & Policy: Ensuring Justice for a Healthier World (Lawrence O. Gostin & Benjamin Mason Meier eds., Oxford University Press,  with Benjamin Mason Meier). She also investigates race and national security in her new book, Race and National Security.

Professor Liza Vertinsky and co-authors published A Theory of Genetic Dimensions in the Law, building on their scholarly work exploring the disconnect between genetics and the law. The article analyzes the impact of the longstanding judicial and legislative practice of applying ill-fitting legal constructs to genetic phenomena even as uses of genetics have expanded in multiple areas, ranging from criminal law enforcement to parenthood determination, from the development of medical diagnostics and therapies and the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry.

Professor Diane Hoffmann continues her scholarly focus on discrimination in regulations governing allocation of medical care and resources. In 2023, Professor Hoffmann co-authored “Allocating Scarce Medical Resources During a Public Health Emergency: Can We Consider Sex?”, as well as Clinical Algorithms, Antidiscrimination Laws, and Medical Device Regulation.

The Fall 2023 Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter is now available, with articles and case studies addressing gender affirming care, adult guardianship, pediatric behavioral health, and crisis standards of care, among other. This issue includes an especially robust list of curated events, many virtual, that may be of interest to you.

The Journal of Health Care Law & Policy’s newest issue is now available, featuring articles on reproductive justice from last year's Rothenberg Speakers Michelle Oberman and Kimberly Mutcherson.

The 2023 Center for Health & Homeland Security Newsletter, which spotlights the Long-Term Care Facility and Johns Hopkins Hospital Tabletop Exercises, among other initiatives.

Professor Diane Hoffmann is quoted in The Baltimore Sun discussing the settlement of the lawsuit between the family of Henrietta Lacks and biotechnology company.

Professor Kathleen Hoke is quoted in The Baltimore Banner regarding the Archdiocese of Baltimore filing for bankruptcy ahead of expected flood of sex abuse lawsuits.

Professor Natalie Ram is quoted in article, “Police Are Getting DNA Data From People Who Think They Opted Out” in The Intercept on August 18, 2023.

Professor Liza Vertinksy is quoted in The Baltimore Banner discussing Baltimore’s role in recent opioid settlement payouts.

Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 4:30PM EST

Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 4:30PM EST

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Thursday, February 19, 2024 at 4:30PM EST

Panels will include a diverse groups of scholars speaking on Understanding Prescription Drug Pricing; Constitutionality of Prescription Drug Regulation; and Use of Patents on Prescription Drugs, followed by a reception.

March 7, 2024

Right Here, Wrong There: Legal and Ethical Considerations when Science & Medicine cross boundaries. Co-hosted by the University of Maryland Carey School of Law’s Law & Health Care Program, the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

May 2 and 3, 2024