Article explains the right granted to state public health agencies by the Supreme Court in Jacobson v Massachusetts to mandate vaccination in the presence of actual or threatened danger to the health of its residents from infectious disease.
The ongoing anthrax vaccination case, Doe v Rumsfeld, tests whether the military can require participation in and punish refusal of a vaccination program while waiving informed consent.
The AMA's Code of Medical Ethics' opinion on the use of databanks in genomic research requires informed consent by groups and individuals who are subjects of research.
Research is critical to the development of public policy as it relates to the need for expedited therapy for the partners of patients with a sexually transmitted disease.