Chapter 7.A.1: Medical and Legal Views of Public Health

NOTES: AN OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC HEALTH STRATEGIES (pp. 608-14)

1. Sources of Information. For further discussion of disease surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic, see Charles Curran, Personal Data & Vaccination Hesitancy: COVID-19’s Lessons for Public Health Federalism, 73 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1 (2024) (arguing for more controls on federal access to state public health data and greater transparency).

3. Jurisdictional Issues.  See also Thomas McGarity, I Don’t Want To, And You Can’t Make Me, 87 Alb. L. Rev. 335  (2024) (discussing controversies over mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic).

4. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Calls to Strengthen Global Health Governance. 

• The U.S. is no longer a member of the WHO.  Sheryl Gay Stolberg, U.S. Formally Withdraws from World Health Organization, N.Y. Times, Jan. 22, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/us/politics/united-states-withdraws-world-health-organization.html.  President Trump provided notice that the U.S. would withdraw from the WHO on January 20, 2025.  Exec. Order No. 14155, 90 Fed. Reg. 8365 (Jan. 28, 2025) (in effect reinstituting the notice of withdrawal previously provided in 2020, during President Trump’s first term). 
• The World Health Assembly adopted amendments to the International Health Regulations in 2024, including a new “pandemic emergency” framework.  See WHO, Amended International Health Regulations Enter into Force (Sept. 19, 2025), https://www.who.int/news/item/19-09-2025-amended-international-health-regulations-enter-into-force.  The US has also specifically rejected the 2024 IHR amendments.  U.S. HHS, HHS & State Department: The United States Rejects Amendments to International Health Regulations (July 18, 2025), https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/state-department-hhs-rejects-amendments-to-international-health-regulations.html.
• The WHO Assembly adopted a Pandemic Agreement in May 2025; however consideration of the agreement and subsequent review for potential adoption by member states will require further steps to “draft and negotiate a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system (PABS) through an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG).” The Agreement’s goal is for manufacturers participating in the PABS to target providing 20% of pandemic-related vaccines, medicines, and tests for distribution to lower-income countries.  WHO, World Health Assembly Adopts Historic Pandemic Agreement to Make the World More Equitable and Safer from Future Pandemics (May 20, 2025), https://www.who.int/news/item/20-05-2025-world-health-assembly-adopts-historic-pandemic-agreement-to-make-the-world-more-equitable-and-safer-from-future-pandemics. 

6. Fear.  When do government efforts to address misinformation become impermissible infringements on First Amendment freedom of speech?  See Murthy v. Missouri, 603 U.S. 43 (2024) (holding plaintiffs lacked Article III standing to seek injunctive relief; underlying case involved various claims brought by states and social media users alleging that federal communications with social media companies about alleged misinformation on their platforms violated the First Amendment).