Centers Of Excellence

Health Law and Policy Program

UCLA’s Health Law and Policy Program brings together experts across disciplines to identify legal pathways for innovative and practical health reforms that rise to critical challenges.

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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. The Health Law and Policy Program also serves as a hub for JD, LLM, MLS, and other UCLA graduate students pursuing careers in health law and policy.

Speaker Series

  • 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.

     


    April 22, 2024, 5 pm to 6:30 pm IN PERSON

    Dr. Katherine MacLean, neuroscientist, speaking about her memoir, “Midnight Water.”

     


    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.

     


    Flyer for the program: Advocacy to Create Federal Safe Harbor for PsilocybinAdvocacy to Create Federal Safe Harbor for Psilocybin

    February 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.

     

Resources

News
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Jan 23, 2024

Lindsay Wiley is quoted by Stat News about litigation over Medicare drug prices

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Jan 18, 2024

Jill Horwitz writes an article for the Journal of the American Medical Association about legal tools to hold nonprofit hospitals accountable to their charitable purposes

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