Health Law—“A statute, ordinance, or code that prescribes
sanitary standards and regulations for the purpose of promoting and preserving
the community’s health.”
-Black’s
Law Dictionary
My last required round table was
about health law and the different opportunities available to those interested
in such matters. But fear not! This does not mean this will be my last post
about different legal career paths. You
guys have shown your love for these posts so I’ll try to find out about more
careers and give you a look into what a lawyer does in that type of job.
As I stated in my last post, I
signed up for round tables that sounded interesting to me. When I was in high school, I really wanted to
combine chemistry and law in a way that interested me. Most people thought that would lead me to
medical malpractice, which isn’t that interesting to me, but what I really
liked was the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and clinical
trials. At the time, I really thought I
was making it up as no one really knew what I was talking about. But this round table made me realize that
there are so many areas of law people don’t know about since that’s actually
something people do!
Health law focuses on a variety of
issues from regulations about hospitals to issues surrounding mental
health. Many of the regulations that
focus on pharmaceuticals stem from the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act overseen by
the FDA. This has become an increasingly
big area of law as our country has become more reliant on pharmaceutical
drugs. Other common areas of health law
focus on how care facilities are run and how law interacts with those with
mental health issues. Furthermore, law
touches every aspect of health from how hospitals can be run to how our health
insurance is enacted.
Similarly to the other two round
tables, there were two main types of practices:
in-house and outside counsel. In
in-house counsel, there are a variety of routes one can take. Attorneys work in hospitals regulating how
their clinical trials are run, how students can earn credits in teaching
hospitals, etc. At pharmaceutical
companies, attorneys can be in positions to analyze their patents or to
regulate that the fine print in TV or magazine advertisements complies with
what the FDA requires. They also have
influence in ensuring that coupons comply with FDA standards as well. Outside counsel works more in litigation
settings that can involve lawsuits regarding hospitals and care facilities.
I can’t believe I’m already starting
my sixth week of law school classes! I’m
really enjoying the whole experience, even if it can be a little overwhelming
at points. Hopefully, all of you are
having a great start to your semesters!
No comments:
Post a Comment