Boyd School of Law Hosts Exploring Health Care Disparities in Nevada Symposium

On April 17, the William S. Boyd School of Law hosted the Exploring Health Care Disparities in Nevada: An Interprofessional Symposium. The event was sponsored by the Nevada IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence.

The symposium brought together experts from the Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada School of Medicine, UNLV School of Community Health Sciences, UNLV School of Dental Medicine, UNLV School of Nursing, and more. Panel topics included everything from reducing health disparities among women by gender-specific disease characterization to disparities in Alzheimer's disease prevalence, support and services.

To see videos from the event, click here.

Professor Griffin Guest Blogs on ACSblog

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Leslie Griffin guest blogged on the ACSblog on February 8, 2013. Titled "Did Obama Ignore Religious Freedom of Millions of Americans? Yes and No," Professor Griffin's post explains that the Obama administration recently offered more accommodations to the religious employers who oppose women’s reproductive freedom and seek exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that employee insurance coverage extend to contraception and sterilization.

According to Professor Griffin, "The employers won two big victories. First, the definition of religious employer was expanded to include not only organizations where everyone shares one faith but also those that employ or provide services to individuals who are not members of the same religious community. Second, the employers will not have to provide the coverage. Instead, the insurance companies will independently contact employees and make separate contraceptive policies available to them at no charge. The insurance companies will cover the costs of this new arrangement and, presumably, pass them on to other consumers." To read more, click here.

Professor Griffin currently serves as William S. Boyd Professor of Law. She is author of Law and Religion: Cases and Materials; editor of Law and Religion: Cases in Context; and author of numerous articles and book chapters about law, religion, politics and ethics. Professor Griffin is a graduate of Yale University (M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Religious Studies) and Stanford Law School.

Professor Griffin Featured in Las Vegas City Life Article

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Leslie Griffin was featured in a Las Vegas City Life article published on February 6, 2013. Titled "The Dangerous Illusion of Abortion Rights," the article lauded a panel convened on January 31, 2013, by Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada that included Professor Griffin as well as Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, UNLV History Professor Joanne Goodwin, and Director of UNLV's Jean Nidetch Women's Center Christina Hernandez.

At the January 31 program, Professor Griffin and her co-panelists examined the past, present, and uncertain future of abortion access. "A passionate crowd of nearly 100 people — perhaps half of them born after the court ruling, most of them women and among them doctors and medical students — listened intently and shared their own stories."

Professor Griffin currently serves as William S. Boyd Professor of Law. She is author of Law and Religion: Cases and Materials; editor of Law and Religion: Cases in Context; and author of numerous articles and book chapters about law, religion, politics and ethics. Professor Griffin is a graduate of Yale University (M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Religious Studies) and Stanford Law School.

Professor Griffin to Participate in Panel Commemorating the Fortieth Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Leslie Griffin will participate in a panel hosted by Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada (PPSN) commemorating the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The panel, which will be held on Thursday, January 31 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., will discuss reproductive choice, the importance of Roe v. Wade, and what the future holds for reproductive justice in our society.

In addition to Professor Griffin, the other panelists include Christina Hernandez, Director of the Jean Nidetch Women's Center; Dr. Joanne Goodwin, Director of the Women's Research Institute of Nevada; and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

The panel will be held at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) office, 708 South 6th Street in Las Vegas. Light refreshments will be provided. The event is free and open to the public, although an RSVP is required by email to tara.brosnan@pprm.org or by telephone at 702-878-3622 ext. 200

Professor Griffin currently serves as William S. Boyd Professor of Law. She is author of Law and Religion: Cases and Materials; editor of Law and Religion: Cases in Context; and author of numerous articles and book chapters about law, religion, politics and ethics. Professor Griffin is a graduate of Yale University (M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Religious Studies) and Stanford Law School.

Boyd Students Selected to Present at SAHMS Annual Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that two students have been selected to make presentations at the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science (SAHMS) Fifteenth Annual Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 21 through 23, 2013. The annual SAHMS meeting brings together scholars across the United States with expertise in fields that touch on the history of medicine and science.

John Niman, a third-year law student at Boyd, will present his paper, "Prosthetic Technology: From the Peg Leg to Human Enhancement." In his talk, Niman will survey past, present, and future prosthetic technology. While technology has advanced significantly from the peg leg of pirate lore, Niman will argue that we are now on the cusp of truly advanced prosthetics that will offer functionality superior to biological limbs.

Bryn Esplin, a second-year law student at Boyd, will present her paper entitled, "The Mind is the Final Frontier: Re-conceptualizing Mental Illness Through Science Fiction, Legislation and the Future of Neuroscience." During her talk, Esplin will explore conceptions of psychiatry and mental illness in the literary genre of Science Fiction from past to present, both antiquated and emergent legislation regarding health care and parity, and the promise of reconciling the persistent stigma of Cartesian Dualism through breakthroughs in neuroscience and technology.

Niman and Esplin will be accompanied to Charleston by Professor Stacey Tovino, who is also presenting at the conference. Tovino will present her paper entitled, "An American History of Health Privacy and Health Information Confidentiality Laws: 1880 to Present." During her talk, Tovino will explore the history of federal and state health information confidentiality laws from 1880 to the present. Although few pre-1880 laws identified a right of privacy distinct from the rights associated with private property, dozens of federal and state laws began identifying clear rights of health privacy and health information confidentiality in the medical and scientific contexts.

Congratulations, John and Bryn!

Professor Tovino Places New Articles in the Oregon Law Review and the Penn State Law Review

Professor Stacey Tovino has placed two new law review articles for publication. The first article, "Gone Too Far: Federal Regulation of Health Care Attorneys," will appear in volume 91 of the Oregon Law Review in spring 2013. The second article, "Conflicts of Interest in Health Care and Health Law," will appear in volume 117 of the Penn State Law Review also in spring 2013.

"Gone Too Far: Federal Regulation of Health Care Attorneys" examines the propriety of Congress's decision to extend the application of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to outside counsel who represent health industry clients. As background, outside health care counsel frequently obtain medical records, billing records, health insurance claims records, and other records containing individually identifiable health information in the course of representing health industry clients in medical malpractice, licensure, certification, accreditation, fraud and abuse, peer review, and other civil, criminal, and administrative health law matters. "Gone Too Far" is the first to argue that state rules of professional conduct, not federal health information confidentiality regulations, should govern outside health care counsel’s use and disclosure of confidential client information.

"Conflicts of Interest in Health Care and Health Law" compares and contrasts illustrative conflicts of interest that arise in the contexts of clinical medicine, human subjects research, and the practice of health law. After identifying strengths and weaknesses in state and federal provisions designed to manage such conflicts, the article proposes revisions to federal regulations governing human subjects research and State Rules of Professional Conduct.

UNLV Faculty Members to Participate in Health Care Reform Event

Together with the Nevada State Medical Association and the State Bar of Nevada, the Boyd School of Law will participate in the presentation of a "Health Care Reform: Next Steps for Nevada" continuing legal education (CLE) and continuing medical education (CME) event on November 16, 2012.

The program, which will offer 3.5 CLE and CME units, will feature presentations by Connie Akridge (Past President, State Bar of Nevada, and Partner, Holland and Hart), Chris Cochran (Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, UNLV), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada Attorney General), Dr. Mitchell Forman (Dean, Touro University), Jon Hager (Executive Director, Silver State Health Insurance Exchange), Dr. Florence Jameson (President, Nevada State Medical Association), Scott Kipper (Nevada Insurance Commissioner), Kate Leone (Senior Health Counsel, Senator Harry Reid's Office), Larry Matheis (Executive Director, Nevada State Medical Association), Dr. Thomas Schwenk (Dean, University of Nevada School of Medicine), and Stacey Tovino (Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research and Lincy Professor of Law, Boyd School of Law, UNLV).

"Health Care Reform: Next Steps for Nevada" will be held on November 16, 2012, between 1:00 and 5:30 p.m. at The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89106. A reception from 5:30 to 6:30 will follow. Registration information is available here.

Las Vegas City Life Interviews Professor Griffin

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Las Vegas City Life published a lengthy interview with Professor Leslie Griffin yesterday.

Entitled, "A Local Law School Prof Is at the Forefront of the Debate over Contraception Insurance and Religion," the interview begins with Professor Griffin's decision to write a letter that was signed by 170 law professors across the country and entered into the Congressional Record on August 1, 2012, at pages E1370 and E1371. In the letter, which defends free contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Professor Griffin contends that ACA protects women's rights and does not infringe on religious freedom:

"The way I think of religious freedom is to say we have the free exercise clause, and although there are few cases that say the government has to keep complete hands off religious organizations, the dominant theme has been that religions need to follow the law, like everybody else. Otherwise every citizen would be a law unto himself. If the drastic end of my religion said 'sacrifice human beings,' that shouldn’t entitle me to do it. And so if you move down from the very extreme to 'well, if my religion says I can harm people, or if my religion says I can treat my employees any way I want,' we shouldn’t assume the Constitution protects that kind of freedom. What the Constitution protects is laws that aren’t based on religion and that let us all live together."

Professor Griffin concludes her interview by stating, "One of the reasons we have the establishment clause is to keep churches from having too much power in our government. The First Amendment is supposed to protect individuals. The individuals here are women of different faiths, or no faith, and of different conscience. They should be the ones who get to make decisions about their reproductive freedom, not their employers."

Professor Griffin currently serves as William S. Boyd Professor of Law. She is author of Law and Religion: Cases and Materials, editor of Law and Religion: Cases in Context, and author of numerous articles and book chapters about law, religion, politics and ethics. Her most recent law review article, "The Sins of Hosanna-Tabor," forthcoming in the Indiana Law Journal, addresses the Supreme Court’s recent First Amendment decision. Professor Griffin is a graduate of Yale University (M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Religious Studies) and Stanford Law School.

2L Bryn Esplin Receives Early Career Scholar in Neuroethics Award

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announced that second-year law student Bryn Esplin will present her work, "Identical Prescriptions, Disparate Treatment: Anticonvulsant Usage in Frontal Lobe Epilepsy and Bipolar I Disorder," at the International Neuroethics Conference ("Brain Matters 3: Values at the Crossroads of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Psychology") at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 24-25, 2012. Ms. Esplin also received the Early Career Scholar in Neuroethics Award for her submission.

Brain Matters 3 follows in the tradition of the two previous Brain Matters conferences in fostering further development in the field of Neuroethics. The primary themes of this year's conference include ethical dilemmmas in the treatment and research of conditions with neurological symptomatology without identifiable biological correlates/causes. Ms. Esplin's submission discusses advances in neuroscience and emergent legislation that affect the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (FLE) and Bipolar I Disorder (BID). Focusing on Lamictal, an anticonvulsant, which is highly effective for both FLE and BID, Ms. Esplin's work shows how access to Lamictal as well as public perception of its consumers differ. Ms. Esplin concludes that, working in tandem, breakthroughs in neuroscience and legislative interventions can enhance understanding and access to care, helping to dismantle persistent stigma. Ms. Esplin's work is an outgrowth of a directed research project supervised by Professor Stacey Tovino.

Congratulations, Bryn!

Professor Bayer Places His Latest Article in the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Peter Bayer has placed his latest law review article, "The Due Process Legality of the Individual Mandate: A Kantian Analysis, and Why It Matters," in the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal.

In his article, Professor Bayer argues that while the Supreme Court has ruled that the individual mandate provision within the Affordable Care Act is constitutional under Congress's power to tax, the true challenge yet to be judicially addressed is the mandate's legality under the Constitution's due process clauses. Professor Bayer uses Immanuel Kant's "dignity principle," which tacitly has been adopted by the courts, to show that the mandate does not violate personal liberty even though it requires unwilling persons to purchase unwanted health insurance from private carriers.

Congratulations, Peter!

Professor Tovino's Latest Article to Be Published in the Houston Law Review

Professor Stacey Tovino's latest law review article (A 'Common' Proposal) will be published in Volume 50 of the Houston Law Review.

The abstract for A 'Common' Proposal provides: "The Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the Common Rule) is codified in separate regulations by seventeen federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS’s version of the Common Rule currently contains a basic policy for the protection of all human subjects, codified at Subpart A of the Common Rule, as well as special provisions governing human subjects research involving three sets of vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates (Subpart B), prisoners (Subpart C), and children (Subpart D). This Article proposes that HHS amend the Common Rule to add a new Subpart E governing human subjects research involving adults with impaired decision-making capacity."

The article's full citation is: Stacey A. Tovino, A 'Common' Proposal, 50 Hous. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2013).

Nevada Supreme Court Refuses to Apply Nondelegable Duty to Reno Hospital

By Professor Stacey Tovino

Whether a hospital is liable for the negligence of a physician on the hospital's medical staff depends on the application of several tort, agency, and health law doctrines including vicarious liability, actual agency, ostensible agency, corporate responsibility, corporate negligence, the law of nondelegable duties, and the corporate practice of medicine prohibition. In Renown Health, Inc. v. Vanderford, 235 P.3d 614 (Nev. 2010), the Nevada Supreme Court held that Renown Regional Medical Center did not have an absolute nondelegable duty to provide nonnegligent medical care to an emergency room patient through its independent contractor physicians. The Court also held, however, that the Medical Center could be liable for the acts of its independent contractor emergency room physicians under the doctrine of ostensible agency. The Court’s decision makes it slightly more difficult, but not impossible, for an injured patient to recover from a defendant hospital that hosts a negligent emergency room physician.