Research has shown that one in six people needs legal care to be healthy.
One in six.
That figure informed our decision to highlight the intersection between health and law in this issue of Law Quadrangle, first with a feature about medical-legal partnerships. These ventures, such as the Law School’s Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, assist people who are denied medical benefits, whose health is affected by unhealthy conditions in rented housing, and many other issues that are known as “social determinants” of health.
Our stories also include a profile of David Schlanger, a Michigan Law alumnus whose legal background helped him build a career that led to the top job at WebMD. We write about alumni who are assisting foreign-national physicians who were trained in the United States to stay in the country and work in underserved areas. We also look at the changing landscape for hospitals in China and profile a recent graduate who previously worked as an emergency room physician.
Together, these stories illustrate that the overlap between health and law is vast. And it is a safe guess that the junction will only become more complex and varied over time.
Doctor’s Orders: Call Your Lawyer
Medical-legal partnerships, such as the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic at Michigan Law, address the social conditions that affect the health and well-being of people and communities. Says Clinic Director Debra Chopp: “The idea is that the legal clinic becomes part of the medical team. We’re all working together to improve the health of the child.”
The JD at the Helm of WebMD
David Schlanger, ’84, used his legal education as the springboard for a career in business. Here, we look at how he rose to the position of CEO of the company behind the most-visited health information website in the world.
Immigration Law and the Nation’s Physician Shortage
Lawyers are trying to help foreign-national physicians who trained in the United States stay in the country to treat medically underserved patients. The process is reportedly laborious and burdensome to employers and physicians alike. We look at this lesser-known facet of federal immigration law, one that is potentially vital to the nation’s health care needs.
East Meets West: China Opens to Western Hospitals
Seth Yu, LLM ’08, is on the front lines of a massive change that is just beginning to occur in the Chinese health care system: the opening of hospitals in China, for Chinese citizens, by Western companies.
Prescription: Career Change
After more than a decade as an ER physician, Mike Casner, ’14, decided it was time for a new challenge. He set his sights on law school, and never looked back. Casner describes returning to school after so many years away as “exciting, exhilarating, terrifying, and amusing.”
Health and the Law: Trends, Challenges, and the Future
We asked alumni who work in health-related legal fields about what is happening in their specialties, the challenges they face, and what we can expect in the future. They shared their thoughts about trends related to pharmaceuticals, mass torts, reimbursements, big data, and the implications of the Affordable Care Act.
