Shaping the Future of Health Law
UCLA faculty are shaping the future of this dynamic and critically important field. Through publications, convenings, and advice to government and industry leaders, they articulate the legal powers, duties, and constraints that apply to government action on health care, public health, and the social determinants of health.
The need for innovative and practical health reform solutions has never been greater—nor has the complexity of the legal landscape reforms must navigate. With a growing cadre of prominent health law and policy faculty and established centers of excellence in related fields, UCLA is uniquely positioned to be a national leader in this dynamic and rapidly expanding field. The Health Law and Policy Program fosters cross-disciplinary partnerships within UCLA and beyond to develop federal, state, local, and global solutions for rebuilding our broken health system, securing access to health care, protecting the public’s health, and realizing health justice.
Who We Are
- Director
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Core faculty
Jill R. Horwitz
David Sanders Professorship in Law and Medicine
Professor of Public Affairs (by courtesy)
Founding Faculty Director, Lowell Milken Center on Philanthropy and Nonprofits
Vice Dean for Faculty and Intellectual Life (2019-2021)Russell Korobkin
Richard C. Maxwell Distinguished Professor of Law
Vice Dean for Graduate and Professional EducationDiana R. H. Winters
Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy -
Affiliated Faculty
Taimie L. Bryant
Professor of LawJeanne Nishimoto
Executive Director, Veterans Justice ClinicSunita Patel
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, UCLA Veterans Legal ClinicRobert Bradley Sears
Associate Dean of Public Interest Law
Roberta A. Conroy Distinguished Scholar of Law & Policy, The Williams Institute
Founding Executive Director, The Williams InstituteAnil Shankar
Lecturer in LawLara Stemple
Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies and International Student ProgramsSanford S. Williams
Lecturer in Law
Speaker Series
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Health Law and Policy Workshop
Thanks to generous support from alumni, UCLA Law hosts a colloquium series for leading health law scholars from across the country to workshop their works-in-progress. These workshops are open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni from the UCLA community. For more information, please email Professor Lindsay Wiley: wiley@law.ucla.edu.
Fall 2024
September 16, 2024 from 3:50 to 5:20 pm
Zack Buck will discuss Patients as Stakeholders, a draft article in which he proposes a stakeholderism approach for state regulation of for-profit hospitals.
September 30, 2024 from 3:50 to 5:20 pm
Thomas Williams will discuss “Government Enabled Intentional Health Wrongs,” a draft article in which he critiques state schemes to provide compensation to individuals were subjected to coercive eugenic sterilizations at the state’s behest.
October 14, 2024 from 3:50 to 5:20 pm
Allison Hoffman will present a pair of book chapters for her upcoming new edition of The Politics of Medicare, in which she surveys how Medicare has evolved from a social insurance program to protect the aged from unmanageable medical bills—to a technocratic, largely privatized program that bends to corporate interests, often at the expense of beneficiaries.
October 28, 2024 from 3:50 to 5:20 pm
Leslie Francis will present a draft article, “Crossing State Lines for Contested Health Care,” in which she argues against the extraterritorial reach of state laws restricting access to reproductive health and gender-affirming care.
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Psychedelics and the Law
This series focuses on different aspects of psychedelics, including their uses, how they change people’s lives, and their legal regulation.
If you have questions, please contact Professor Taimie Bryant: bryant@law.ucla.edu.
Legalizing the Magic of Mushrooms
November 13, 2023
View the recording of the program.
Legal rules regulating access to psychedelics are evolving in concert with recognition of the remarkable potential of psychedelics to heal various psychological and physical conditions. The UCLA Health Law and Policy Program invites you to a Zoom webinar featuring Professor Mason Marks. Professor Marks, a medical doctor and lawyer, leads the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation at Harvard Law School. He will speak about his forthcoming book on trends in state and federal regulation of psychedelics and provide up-to-date information about the status of laws in different jurisdictions.
Advocacy to Create Federal Safe Harbor for PsilocybinFebruary 7, 2024
View the recording of the program.
Kathryn Tucker, Esq., speaking about advocacy efforts to improve access to psychedelics for medical purposes.
Legal rules regulating access to psychedelics are evolving in concert with the recognition of the remarkable potential of psychedelics to heal various psychological and physical conditions.
Ms. Tucker is a pathbreaking litigator involved in seeking legal access to synthetic psilocybin. She is Director of Advocacy for the National Psychedelics Association and a founding board member of the Psychedelic Bar Association.
March 4, 2024
Multi-Site Study on Palliative Effects of Psylocibin
View the recording of this program.
UCLA Law Professor Taimie Bryant continues the speaker series on psychedelics with a presentation from Dr. Charles Grob who spoke about a new multi-site study underway to learn more about the use of psilocybin as part of palliative care. In 2011, Dr. Grob published research suggesting that a single large dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin could reduce existential anguish and demoralization some people experience when approaching the end of their lives. Subsequent research validated those findings. Dr. Grob will be talking about the research design and hypotheses associated with a new multi-site research study to learn more about the circumstances under which most people can benefit from this treatment.
April 22, 2024, 5 pm to 6:30 pm IN PERSON
Dr. Katherine MacLean, neuroscientist, speaking about her memoir, “Midnight Water.”
Resources
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Health Justice Initiative
The Health Justice Initiative brings together scholars, advocates, and policymakers to develop, disseminate, and implement innovative strategies for securing justice, valuing human dignity, and empowering communities to address the structural and social determinants of health.
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Future of Epidemic Response Initiative
The Future of Human Rights and Justice-Centered Ethics in Epidemic Response Initiative brings together researchers, community organization leaders, and current and former health officials to discuss legal and governance mechanisms for ensuring that measures adopted to mitigate the impacts of epidemics are consistent with human rights and justice-centered public health ethics.
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Mainstreaming Reproductive Health Initiative
Mainstreaming Reproductive Health
UCLA’s Health Law and Policy Program is collaborating with UCLA’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy on research and programming that explores opportunities for incorporating efforts to secure access to reproductive health care within broader health care reforms relating to scope of practice, health care financing and reimbursement, informed consent, and more.
To celebrate the publication of Feminist Judgments: Health Law Rewritten, edited by Seema Mohapatra and Lindsay F. Wiley, UCLA School of Law hosted an in-person conference on “Mainstreaming Reproductive Health in Health Law, Policy and Ethics” on February 10, 2023.
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Nonprofit Hospitals Initiative
UCLA Law Professor Jill Horwitz is a leading authority on issues at the intersection of health care and nonprofit law.
On April 21, 2023 she will moderate a discussion on the role of the general counsel for nonprofit hospitals featuring three leading general counsel from different types of large nonprofit hospitals, including Cedars Sinai (a multi-specialty, academic urban hospital in Los Angeles), Keck Medicine (a university-affiliated medical center), and Sharp HealthCare (a not-for-profit regional health care group located in San Diego which includes four acute care hospitals, three specialty hospitals, three affiliated medical groups, and a health plan).
This event is open to UCLA affiliates only. Please email the UCLA Student Health Law Society at hls@lawnet.ucla.edu to RSVP.
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Courses
Topics in Health Law and Policy Scholarship
Issues in Drug Development and Pharmaceutical Innovation
Food Litigation: Consumer Protection, Regulation, and Class Actions
Reproductive Rights and Justice
Privacy, Data & Cyber Security Law
Public Benefits Law and Anti-Poverty Policy
Veterans Justice Clinic: Poverty, Homelessness & Criminalization
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Student Engagement
Health Law Society - The mission of the Health Law Society is to raise the profile of health law issues at UCLA Law, and to provide exposure to the field and opportunities for students interested in studying and pursuing careers in health law.