Announcing: American Journal of Law & Medicine 2011 Symposium, Vol. 37
CALL FOR PAPERS
Topic: Constitutional Health Law: The growing role of commercial speech doctrine in health regulation.
AJLM will hold its annual symposium on February 26, 2011. Papers will be considered for both publication in the Symposium Edition of volume 37 and for presentation at the symposium in Boston. The focus of the symposium will be: The growing role of commercial speech doctrine in health regulation. This is an open call for papers from any perspective, concerning any aspect of this issue. Please send a short abstract of your research idea to AJLM by May 15, 2010.
Topic Overview:
In the past few years, the health care industry has tried constitutional litigation to challenge many statutes and regulations. Examples include: Wyeth v. Levine (US 2009) (preemption of state tort and common law for drugs); Riegel v. Medtronic (US 2008) (preemption for some classes of medical devices). Other examples concern due process and liberty claims asserted against the FDA drug approval system. (Abigail Alliance, DC Cir, rev’d en banc). Several states are preparing cases at the moment to challenge the health insurance reforms recently enacted into law.
Even more remarkable has been the commercial speech litigation, examined in such cases as: United States v. Caronia (DC case on free speech and off-label promotion); IMS v. Ayotte (1st Cir., First Amendment claims against a data privacy statute aimed to curb marketing abuses). Additional related cases have been litigated in Vermont (IMS v. Sorrell) and Maine.
Other important First Amendment cases include Thompson v. Western States Medical Center, 535 U.S. 357 (2002) (advertising unapproved pharmacy compounding); and Washington Legal Foundation v. Henney, 128 F.Supp. 2d. 11 (Dist Ct. D.C., 2000) (off label promotion).
Clearly, something is afoot, with powerful Constitutional arguments being successfully deployed to challenge democratically-enacted statutes. But the plaintiffs aren’t oppressed minorities; they are some of the world’s most powerful corporations, with incredible lobbying resources in Washington, the United States and on the international market. How do we mesh theories of the constitution with these cases? Is commercial speech the new incarnation of Lochner? What does the recent decision in Citizen United mean for commercial speech litigation?
Please send a one page abstract, as well as complete contact information, to ajlmsymposium@gmail.com by May 15, 2010. Selected authors will be notified by June 1, 2010. Full-length articles should be submitted by October 2010 for inclusion in the symposium. AJLM pays the reasonable travel expenses for invited authors.
AJLM is the leading student-edited and peer-reviewed health law journal in the country, as ranked by impact factor.