Health & Health Care Law
Healthcare accounts for 12 percent of the gross national product, making it one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world. American health care involves the regulation of access to health care, financing of health care, and quality of health care. Regulating the health care industry is a huge undertaking that requires regulatory agencies at all levels, from local to state to federal. Legal health care issues involve licensure, contracts, antitrust, patient rights, policies, and medical malpractice. Contracts, torts, corporations, law and ethics, financing and administration are all a part of health law issues.Healthcare Laws and Regulations
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the government agency whose aim is to protect the health of all Americans and offer essential human services. The HHS manages more than 300 government programs, which cover a wide variety of issues, from food and drug safety to Medicare and Medicaid.
Laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines are managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; these specific areas are vast, varied, and extremely complex. The HHS covers laws and regulations involving food law, healthcare standards, health research, treaties, good manufacturing practice, health research acts, civil rights laws and welfare reform. Policies and guidelines involve clinical practice guidelines, disability, aging and long-term, ethics policies, HHS health care policies, HHS Freedom of Information Act and guidelines for isolation precautions in hospitals.
Cases Involving Health Law
Any number of issues involving violation of the initiatives set forth by the HHS could result in a lawsuit. Common cases involving health law range from medical malpractice and worker’s compensation to lawsuits against restaurants for unsanitary conditions; illness resulting from contaminated foods in restaurants; negligence with regard to communicable disease; and even issues involving illness resulting from poorly managed residential environments.
If you feel that any health laws have been violated or that you have been affected physically, emotionally, or financially, consult a legal professional or legal clinic for advice on whether or not you have “a case.” If you decide, along with your legal counselor, that you have enough information or grounds to file a suit, take your time and search for an appropriate firm or attorney to handle your case. Word of mouth or referrals are always a good thing, but if you don’t have an attorney in mind, make sure to do your research.
Once you have located an attorney with whom you feel comfortable, and have filed your lawsuit, you should either expect to settle out of court or to present your case before a judge. Court cases are typically costly and emotionally draining. Depending on the case, the process can take from several months up to several years to be resolved. Keep this in mind when deciding if the suit is worth the time, energy, finances, and emotion.
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