Health Law Resource Guide
Introduction
Cases
Statutes and Codes
Regulations and Rules
Treatises and Practice Guides
Study Aids
Searching SCHOLAR and OhioLINK
Journal Articles and Current Awareness Services
Aggregate Databases and Other Web Resources
Introduction
Health law generally focuses on health care delivery and bioethics. Topics include the treatment relationship, duty to care, and informed consent; health care professional licensure; health care spending, health insurance coverage, and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974); health care institutions, health care business associations, and antitrust law; medical liability and malpractice; death, organ transplantation, withholding treatment, and assisted suicide; and reproductive medicine. One of the primary duties of the state is to preserve public health, and many states delegate authority to administrative agencies such as boards of health. Federal health law is concentrated on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers many agencies and programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Current health/medical knowledge is primarily found in the journal literature, and one should never simply rely upon books. When searching the journal literature, note that, in addition to supporting keyword searching, health/medical indexing and abstracting services tend to use thesauri or controlled vocabulary. This means human beings are involved in the indexing and abstracting of health/medical journal literature, resulting in extremely detailed and precise databases. MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) is the thesaurus used by the U.S. National Library of Medicine in its MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) databases. MEDLARS has over 40 databases, including Medline/PubMed. Use MeSH when constructing search statements to take full advantage of the high quality comprehensive indexing supporting the MEDLARS databases.
In general, health/medical indexing and abstracting services do not provide full-text documents. However, many provide links to full-text document services, and many journals are now available electronically. See the Journal Articles and Current Awareness Services section below for additional information on print and electronic indexes, as well as electronic full-text journals.
If you are a student who's trying to pick a topic in health law for a note or article, check out Lawtopic.com and review its Health Law section. Also, consider reviewing current issues and hot topics on news Web sites such as American Lawyer Media's American Lawyer, Law.Com, National Law Journal, and New York Law Journal, as well as Lawyers Weekly.
Please contact the Law Library's Research Services librarians during their Research Services hours, or via email for help with locating or using any of the resources discussed in this guide.
Cases
LexisNexis: Area of Law - By Topic: Medical: Cases Federal and States Cases - Selected Healthcare Related Material Includes US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals, Federal District Courts, all 50 States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and other US territories as well as specialty courts such as Military Appeals, Customs, Patents, Tax, Trade, Commerce, Veteran Appeals, and Bankruptcy.
See also LexisNexis: Area of Law - By Topic: Medical: Multi-Source Groups: Healthcare Related Cases From All State Courts and ALR Annotations.
LexisNexis: States Legal - U.S.: Ohio: Cases: By Area of Law: OH Health Cases Selected health cases decided by the Ohio Supreme Court since 1821, Ohio Court of Appeals since 1913, and various Ohio Miscellaneous Courts since 1922.
Westlaw: U.S. State Materials: Case Law: Multistate Cases Organized by Area of Practice: Health & Medicine (MHTH-CS) Includes all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
See also individual databases in Federal Cases section of Westlaw: Topical Materials by Area of Practice: Health & Medicine. See also Health section of Westlaw: KeySearch.
Westlaw: U.S. State Materials: Ohio: Cases: Case Law Organized by Practice Area or Topic: Health & Medicine (OHHTH-CS) Selected cases decided by the Ohio Supreme Court since 1821, Ohio Court of Appeals since 1913, and various Ohio Miscellaneous Courts since 1889.
Statutes and Codes
US Code: Public Health and Welfare 42 USC; Hospitals and Asylums 24 USC; Food and Drugs 21 USC
[Links via Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute; "generated from the most recent version made available by the US House of Representatives."]
Ohio Code: Health-Safety-Morals 37 ORC; Insurance 39 ORC.
Ohio Code: Occupations, Professions: Dentists; Dental Hygienists ORC 4715 et seq.; Nurses ORC 4723 et seq.; Pharmacists; Dangerous Drugs ORC 4729 et seq.; Physicians; Limited Practitioners ORC 4731 et seq.
Several other health occupations and professions also in the 4730s-4770s Chapters of the ORC.
[Links via Anderson's and State of Ohio.]
Regulations and Rules
Code of Federal Regulations: Public Health (Department of Health and Human Services) 42 CFR; Food and Drugs (Food and Druge Administration) 21 CFR Chapter 1.
[Links via GPO Access.]
Ohio Administrative Code: Department of Health OAC 3701 et seq.; State Certificate of Need Review Board OAC 3702 et seq.; Statewide Health Coordinating Council OAC 3703 et seq.; Commission on Minority Health OAC 3704 et seq.; Department of Insurance OAC 3901 et seq.; State Dental Board OAC 4715 et seq.; Ohio Board of Nursing OAC 4723 et seq.; State Board of Pharmacy OAC 4729 et seq.; State Medical Board OAC 4731 et seq.
[Links via Anderson's and Stateof Ohio.]
Several other Ohio state health-related boards also in the 4730s-4760s Chapters of the OAC.
Treatises and Practice Guides
Selected significant treatises and practice guides in the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library collection which provide a foundation in issues of health law include the following:
The Health Care E-Commerce Revolution: Legal, Financial & Regulatory Strategies / Edward S. Kornreich. Practising Law Institute, c2001. KF3827 .E5 H42 2001
Health Care Law: a Practical Guide / Michael G. Macdonald, Kathryn C. Meyer, and Beth Essig. Mathew Bender, c1985- . KF3821 .M32
Health Care Law: Desk Reference / Alison Barnes, et al. American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education, c2001. KF3821 .H43 2001
Health Care Litigation: What You Need to Know After Pegram / Karen S. Boxer and Manuel del Valle. Practicing Law Institute, c2000. KF3825 .Z9 H422 2000
Health Policymaking In the United States / Beaufort B. Longest, Jr. AUPHA/HAP, c2002. Electronic Book available via Scholar
Human Rights and Biomedicine / George P. Smith, II. Kluwer Law International, c2000. K3601 .S63 2000
Law and Bioethics: an Introduction / Jerry Menikoff. Georgetown University Press, c2001. KF3821 .M46 2001
Law and Medicine / Michael Freeman and Andrew D.E. Lewis, eds. Oxford University Press, c2000. K3601 .L39 2000
Legal and Ethical Issues In Health Occupations / Tonia Dandry Aiken, eds. W.B. Saunders Col, c2002. KF3821 .L42 2002
Legal Aspects Of Health Care Administration / George D. Pozgar; Nina M. Santucci, legal review. Aspen Publishers, c2002. KF3821 .P69 2002
Matters Of Life and Death: Making Moral Theory Work In Medical Ethics and the Law / David Orentlicher. Princeton University Press, c2001. KF3821 .O73 2001
Medical Law and Ethics / Bonnie F. Fremgen. Prentice Hall, c2002. KF3821 .F74 2002
Medical Law and Ethics / Sheila McLean, ed. Ashgate/Dartmouth, c2002. K3601 .M43 2002
The Privatization of Health Care Reform: Legal and Regulatory Perspectives / M. Gregg Bloche, ed. Oxford University Press, c2003. KF3825 .P75 2003
Public Interest Colloquium: Minimizing Medical Errors: Legal Issues In the Debate On Improving Patient Safety. American Health Lawyers Association, c2003. KF3821 .A75 A82 2003
Strange Bedfellows: How Medical Jurisprudence Has Influenced Medical Ethics and Medical Practice / Ben A. Rich. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, c2001. KF3821 .R54 2001
Strangers In the Night: Law and Medicine In the Managed Care Era / Peter D. Jacobson. Oxford Universiy Press, c2002. KF1183 .J33 2002
U.S. Health Law and Policy: a Guide To the Current Literature. Jossey-Bass, 1998- . KF3821 .A1 U56
The U.S. Supreme Court and Medical Ethics: From Contraception To Managed Health Care / Bryan Hilliard. Paragon House, c2004. Electronic Book available via Scholar
Health Care Law. Ohio CLE Institute, c2003. KFO360 .H4357 2003 v.03-117
Health Law In Ohio: the Legal Implications Of Health Care Delivery Systems and Managed Care / Lisa G. Han, et al. NBI, Inc., c2002. KFO187 .H4 H4 2002
Study Aids
Health Care Law and Ethics In a Nutshell / Mark A. Hall, Ira Mark Ellman, and Daniel S. Strouse. West Group, c1999. KF3821 .Z9 H35 1999
Health Law / Barry R. Furrow, et al. West Group, c2000. KF3821 .H4343 2000
Searching SCHOLAR and OhioLINK
SCHOLAR is the electronic catalog for Cleveland State University's Law Library and University Library. CSU also participates in the state-wide consortia OhioLINK, which provides access to a state-wide central catalog and numerous research databases. For treatises and other materials, search the SCHOLAR and OhioLINK catalogs with the subject headings Medical Laws and Legislation; Medical Laws and Legislation - United States; Medical Laws and Legislation - Ohio. See also the 80+ Medical Laws and Legislation Related Subject Headings.
Journal Articles and Current Awareness Services
See the Finding Articles in Law Reviews, Journals and Other Legal Periodicals guide for an explanation of the legal periodical indexes and databases available to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law students and the CSU community. That guide covers print and electronic indexes, as well as electronic full-text journals. In particular, note OhioLINK's Electronic Journal Center and its Health Sciences and Medicine subject cluster.
Selected specialty journals and current awareness materials concerning Health Law in the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library collection include:
American Journal Of Law & Medicine. American Society of Law & Medicine. K1 .M445
Annals Of Health Law. Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Institute for Health Law, in cooperation with National Health Lawyers Association. K1 .N525
DePaul Journal Of Health Care Law. DePaul University College of Law. Health Law Institute. Electronic Journal
The Health Lawyer. American Bar Association. Forum Committee on Health Law. KF3821 .A15 H422
HEC Forum: an Interdisciplinary Journal On Hospitals' Ethical and Legal Issues. Pergamon Press. R724 .H38 & Electronic
Houston Journal Of Health Law & Policy. Joe Christensen, Inc. K8 .O749
Issues In Law & Medicine. National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent & Disabled, Inc. and Horation R. Storer Foundation, Inc. KF480 .A15 I87
Journal Of Contemporary Health Law and Policy. Catholic University of America Press. K10 .O97 & Electronic
Journal Of Health Care Law & Policy. University of Maryland School of Law. Law & Health cAre Program. Electronic Journal
Journal Of Health Law. American Health Lawyers Association. K10 .O86823
Journal Of Health Politics, Policy and Law. Duke University Press. K10 .O8684 & Electronic
Journal Of Law and Health. Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. K10 .O8767
Journal Of Law, Medicine & Ethics. American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics. KF3821 .A15 L38
Journal Of Legal Medicine. American College of Legal Medicine. K10 .O8736
Journal Of Medicine and Law. Michigan State Unviersity Detroit College of Law. K10 .O8823
Medical Law International. ABA. K13 .E3
Medicine and Law. Springer International. K13 .E28
Modern Health Care Law Digest. Specialty Digest Publications. KF3821 .A59 M63
Quinnipiac Health Law Journal. Quinnipiac College School of Law. K25 .U46
Yale Journal Of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics. Yale Law School. K29 .A335
Aggregate Databases and Other Web Resources
Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute: Law about: Health Law
FindLaw: Practice Areas: Health Law
Galaxy Directory: Medicine
Jurist: Legal Research: Law Guides: Health Law
Karolinska Institutet's Biomedical Information Resources & Services - by Subject
LexisONE: Legal Web Site Directory: Practice Areas: Healthcare Law
LexisNexis: Area of Law - By Topic: Medical
Includes federal and state cases, court rules, statutes and legislative materials, administrative materials and regulations, law reviews and journals, treatises and analytical materials, CLE course listings and information, legal news, legal reference materials, medical journals, medical news and information, medical references (including Medline), and compliance materials.
Medical Matrix
Peer reviewed directory of over 6000 medical sites and over 1.5 million documents.
Medical World Search
Includes issues, news, hot topics, terminology, statistics, and search examples.
MedWorld: MedBot: Super Search
Chose up to four databases to search at the same time from Web search engines, general and medical indices, as well as medical education, news, and multimedia sites.
OhioLINK Research Databases: Medicine and Health
Includes CHID Online (Combined Health Information Database; produced by US government health-related agencies), Clinical Medicine and Health Research (articles not yet published, and may not yet be peer reviewed), Clinical Pharmacology (drug monographs for US prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, herbal and nutritional products, as well as new and investigational drugs), Medline, OT Search (occupational therapy), CINAHL (nursing and allied health), Institute for Scientific Information Citation Databases (particularly Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index), Papers First, and Proceedings First.
OhioLINK Research Databases: Law and Legislation
Includes Congressional Universe (particularly "Hot Bills/Topics" group), Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, LexisNexis Congressional (same as Congressional Universe), LexisNexis Academic (particularly "News" and "Medical" groups), Papers First, and Proceedings First.
Rominger Legal: Practice Areas: Health Care
Includes statutes and codes, news, professional directories, links to health care organizations and HMOs, subject specific links, as well as links to administrative agencies, bureaus, and commissions.
Telemedicine Information Exchange
University of Iowa's Hardin MD
University of Iowa's Virtual Hospital
Westlaw: Topical Materials by Area of Practice: Health & Medicine
Includes federal and state cases, federal and state statutes, federal and state administrative materials, litigation reports, daily reports & current developments, periodicals, treatises, practice materials, medical research materials (including Medline), news, and reference materials.
American Medical Association
In particular, see its "Physicians - Legal Issues" link.
American Medical Forensic Specialists
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
In particular, see its National Center for Health Statistics.
National Academy for State Health Policy
National Health Information Center
Laura E. Ray, MA, MLS
Educational Programming Librarian
August 2005