GU LAW SCHOOL Law Professor Drafts Legislation with CDC By Arianne Aryanpur Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown Law Professor Lawrence O. Gostin, prompted by the Centers for Disease Control following the Sept. 11 attacks, drafted a model piece of legislation last week intended to help states effectively deal with threats of bioterrorism and infectious disease against their citizens.

While Gostin has been drafting the legislation for several years with an advisory committee, recent terrorist attacks and subsequent anthrax outbreaks in the United States have made the need for a law of this nature more immediate, said Marsha Berry, executive director of Communications at the Georgetown University Law Center.

The Model Emergency Health Powers Act is a significant draft of healthcare legislation because it agrees with modern scientific and legal standards, whereas present healthcare legislation does not. Present laws also impede prompt action on the part of state governments, a press release said.

The Act also protects the liberties of infected or exposed people when states must isolate or quarantine them and also protects citizens’ and state officials’ access to reliable information in health emergencies.

“Current public health laws are too highly antiquated and inadequate to ensure a strong and effective response to bioterrorism,” Gostin said in a press release.

For example, the Model Act gives states the power to collect data and records, control property, regulate individuals and businesses and have access to communication. It also allows state officials to utilize necessary vaccines and medication on infected persons.

Among the legislation’s other stipulations are granting states the power to use facilities such as hospitals to treat and house patients and to destroy biohazardous or contaminated materials.

“This is really a starting point for states to enact their own public health laws,” Berry said.

The proposed legislation, in addition to specifying state duties and powers, requests limits on that power to avoid civil rights discrimination.

“This is a very important piece of legislation in public service,” Berry said.

GU Law Center Dean Judith Areen praised Gostin’s drafting of the act.

“Professor Gostin is to be commended for not only coordinating the quick and thorough drafting of this legislation, but also for providing an important public service,” she said in a release. “His expertise in the area of public health law is well-known and respected.” He added, “Georgetown University Law Center is proud to be associated with this effort.”

In addition to teaching law at Georgetown, Gostin is a professor of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and principal investigator for the CDC Collaborating Center for Law and the Public’s Health.

The draft has been delivered to the CDC, National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Attorneys General, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Association of City and County Health Officers. The next step will be the presentation of the act to state legislatures, where it will be implemented quickly.

The legislation will then be ready for governor’s signatures and later execution by state public health authorities.

The legislation was recently commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with NGA, NCSL, NAG, ASTHO and NACCHO. The CDC, the Sloan Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided support for the act.