Josh Blackman writes: At Verdict, Mike Dorf considers whether the state and federal governments could require people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. He writes that the leading precedent is Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905). Could government mandate vaccination for people who lack valid medical reasons why a generally safe and effective vaccine would pose an unacceptably high health risk for them? A…
Category: Healthcare
Health Care AI Systems Are Biased
Amit Kaushal, Russ Altman, and Curt Langlotz write: Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, computer systems can now diagnose skin cancer like a dermatologist would, pick out a stroke on a CT scan like a radiologist, and even detect potential cancers on a colonoscopy like a gastroenterologist. These new expert digital…
The DEA Wants Access To 131 Million Prescription Records
Joe Cadillic writes about an issue that I have been blogging about for more than a decade now: government surveillance of our pharmacy records and prescriptions. Joe writes: Back in 2017 I reported on how the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Prescription Monitoring Program was tracking 60 percent of Americans personal information and prescriptions. But now an article in Filter Mag…
S.D.N.Y.: Mental health detentions don’t require actual showing of dangerous behavior; probability enough
From FourthAmendment.com: A mental health detention requires “requires only a ‘probability or substantial chance’ of dangerous behavior, not an actual showing of such behavior.’” … Probable cause for involuntary hospitalization may be established from ‘information gleaned from informants[,] … normally the putative victim or eyewitness, unless the circumstances raise doubt as to the person’s veracity.’…