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Edited by Colleen Flood, Lorne Sossin, and Kent Roach, the collection explores the role that courts may begin to play in health care and how this new role is of crucial importance to the Canadian public and their governments.

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, providing every American with the opportunity to have guaranteed health care coverage. The Affordable Care Act-frequently referred to as Obamacare-is almost synonymous with Obama's presidential legacy and reflects a series of key decisions that he made beginning before he took office. As Meena Bose shows, it was Obama's particular brand of pragmatic politics that ultimately shaped the passage of the Affordable Care Act and made a lasting mark on health care reform in the United States. Pragmatic Vision examines eight of Obama's decisions that resulted in the landmark enactment of health care reform, starting with his commitment to health care reform in the 2008 presidential campaign and concluding with his decision to allow for flexibility with its implementation, following technical hurdles and Supreme Court rulings. Bose shows that Obama's steadfast commitment to the issue was crucial to its passing, especially after the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Obama's direct engagement built key political support for the legislation and was aided by the senior White House staff and Democratic leaders in Congress who skillfully navigated the bill to passage just fourteen months after Obama took office. The story of Obama's leadership in enacting the Affordable Care Act is a tale of today's partisan divide and the polarization of Congress. The legislation passed on a party-line vote and continued to divide politicians long after its passage. Nevertheless, despite repeated efforts by Republicans to repeal the law, it is more popular today than ever and seems destined to remain in force until the next stage of reform. Pragmatic Vision is an authoritative guide to this singular achievement of the Obama administration.

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst to build a stronger European Health Union to protect the health of Europeans and to develop a new Global Health Strategy to contribute to global health security. In positioning itself as a key player in global health governance, the EU seeks to assert its responsibility as a global health actor and deepen its leadership in global health law.

This essay reflects upon the last thirty-five years of public health law. Part One begins by discussing the growth and maturation of the field of public health law since the 1980s. Part Two examines current challenges facing public health law, focusing on those posed by the conservative legal movement and a judiciary that is increasingly skeptical of efforts to use law to improve health and mitigate health inequities. Part Three discusses potential responses to the increasingly perilous judicial climate, including thoughts that emerged from a convening held on the subject by the Act for Public Health Partnership in May 2024.

Following from sweeping law reforms across the global health landscape, there is a need to prepare the next generation to advance global health law to ensure justice for a healthier world. Educational programs across disciplines have increasingly incorporated the field of global health law, with new courses examining the law and policy frameworks that apply to the new set of public health threats, non-state actors, and regulatory instruments that structure global health. Such interdisciplinary training must be expanded throughout the world to prepare future practitioners to strengthen global health law — ensuring a foundation for global health in legal studies and law and global health studies. Meeting this imperative for global health law teaching — establishing academic courses and textbooks on global legal responses to shared health threats — will be necessary to support students to address the global health challenges of the future.

This article describes a student-led interprofessional mock trial designed to explore the legal and regulatory dimensions of pharmacy practice through collaboration between law students and pharmacy students at the University of Mississippi. Developed by the Interprofessional Education (IPE) Board, the mock trial provides an immersive learning experience that simulates real-world legal proceedings involving pharmacists. Students work in interdisciplinary teams to create original case files including fact patterns, deposition transcripts, and trial evidence — based on scenarios involving professional misconduct, medication errors, or regulatory violations. Faculty advisors from both the law and pharmacy school provide guidance to ensure accuracy and educational value. The mock trial involves multiple rounds judged by legal and healthcare professionals, offering students a dynamic platform to develop professional communication, critical thinking, and collaborative skills. Law students gain practical insight into healthcare law while pharmacy students deepen their understanding of legal accountability, compliance, and the stages of a professional liability lawsuit. This interdisciplinary mock trial approach can especially be beneficial to law schools and law students desiring practical skills in healthcare and malpractice litigation, given that — unlike medical schools’ and pharmacy schools’ clinical programs — law schools’ courses involving medical liability issues frequently do not have a clinical component offering practical experience in malpractice litigation. In sum, this article offers a descriptive account of the mock trial, highlighting its structure, implementation, and replicability.

Would compulsory treatment or vaccination for COVID-19 be justified? In England, there would be significant legal barriers to it. However, we offer a conditional ethical argument in favour of allowing compulsory treatment and vaccination, drawing on an ethical comparison with external constraints—such as quarantine, isolation and ‘lockdown’—that have already been authorised to control the pandemic in this jurisdiction. We argue that, if the permissive English approach to external constraints for COVID-19 has been justified, then there is a case for a similarly permissive approach to compulsory medical interventions.

During the past three decades Nepal has gone through series of reforms to address the mental health needs of the Nepalese population by promulgation of an exclusive National Mental Health Policy and related Strategic Action Plan. Small but significant improvements have been achieved in Nepal with regard to mental health policies and plans. This article discusses the evolution of mental health policies in Nepal and analyses the challenges to be overcome for their effective implementation.

Georgia State University College of Law Professor Emerita Charity Scott quoted these words from Albert Einstein in June of 2022 as she concluded a tribute to Professor Joseph (Jay) M. Healey, one of the founding lights of health law and health law teaching. She chose the quote because she thought the words and sentiment would resonate with Jay. I repeat it because Dr. Einstein’s words capture the essence and heart of Charity’s approach to teaching, pedagogy, and life. Charity modeled, urged, nudged, and taught the community of health law professors to embrace imagination and creativity. Charity’s vision has helped us be more creative and reflective teachers. 2

This book encompasses two inter-related disciplines of health law and medical ethics applicable to Singapore. Apart from Singapore legal materials, it draws upon relevant case precedents and statutory developments from other common law countries and incorporates recommendations and reports by health-related bodies, agencies and committees. The book is written in an accessible manner suitable for tertiary students. It should also serve as a useful resource for medico-legal practitioners, academics and healthcare professionals who wish to keep abreast of the evolving legal and ethical developments concerning health and medicine.