https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research For more than a decade, local and state laws have been increasingly focused on providing more protection and agency to workers fighting wage theft, according to new data published on LawAtlas.org and analysis in a new article in the American Journal of Public Health. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-capture-years-wage-laws-workers.html Economics & Business Tue, 20 Jan 2026 16:26:16 EST news688148761 As of September 1, 2024, there are 17 states with clear deflection pathways articulated in state law, steering people with substance use and/or mental health disorders away from incarceration, according to new data published by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-legal-deflection-states.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Sep 2025 16:02:18 EDT news678034934 Data now available on LawAtlas.org describe details of state, county, and city earned sick leave laws across the 75 largest cities in effect as of July 1, 2022, through June 1, 2024. The data are a longitudinal version of the assessment developed and published by CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, with the Center for Public Health Law Research at the Temple University Beasley School of Law. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-capture-years-sick-laws-largest.html Medical economics Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:18:04 EDT news677236682 The number of state laws preempting local policies governing transgender rights in the United States has been steadily increasing since 2019, according to newly updated research by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University School of Law. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-states-preempting-local-laws-transgender.html Political science Wed, 25 Jun 2025 13:05:03 EDT news670075501 A new dataset captures more than 170 years of US state laws governing minors' legal capacity to independently consent to sexual health services without the involvement of their parent or guardian. The dataset is the largest longitudinal dataset of its kind to date. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-capture-laws-minors-legal-capacity.html Pediatrics Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:16:57 EDT news661101413 As of December 1, 2023, 40 states have laws regulating the use of opioid litigation proceeds, a 25% increase from the 32 states that had enacted laws as of August 2022, according to new data published by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law (CPHLR). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-quarters-states-laws-opioid-litigation.html Other Thu, 19 Sep 2024 15:55:01 EDT news645980096 U.S. states vary widely in their laws and legal approaches to managing drug paraphernalia and opioid prevention centers (OPCs), according to new research published by the Center for Public Health Law Research at the Temple University Beasley School of Law. This creates a patchwork of laws that could affect efforts to prevent overdose and overdose death. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-varying-state-drug-laws-patchwork.html Addiction Wed, 22 May 2024 16:44:52 EDT news635615089 Between 1999 and 2017, every state has passed a law addressing bullying, and 90% of those states amended or updated their laws, according to research that analyzes the most comprehensive legal data on anti-bullying laws to date. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-captures-years-anti-bullying-legislation.html Political science Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:00:03 EDT news633715201 While most states have laws that specifically govern debt collection lawsuits, the laws vary widely and few offer protections for consumers, according to new data released today by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-state-laws-debt-lawsuits-vary.html Economics & Business Thu, 15 Feb 2024 15:07:03 EST news627232021 Amid an overdose crisis that claimed more than 100,000 lives last year alone, newly released data show that laws in more than one-third of states restrict access to buprenorphine, a lifesaving treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-states-restrict-access-lifesaving-medicine.html Addiction Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:07:02 EST news626544419 New data released today by the Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR) at Temple University Beasley School of Law point to continued legal barriers for justice-involved seeking continuity of care through Medicaid coverage upon their release from incarceration, a population much more likely to face risk of overdose or death from opioid use disorder. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-legal-barriers-medicaid-justice-involved.html Medical economics Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:31:08 EST news624216665 Between January 1, 2023, and May 22, 2023, legislators in 43 states and the District of Columbia introduced 196 bills addressing school entry vaccination requirements, non-medical exemptions, and scope of practice for providers to administer vaccines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-legislative-early-vaccination-requirements-schools.html Vaccination Thu, 19 Oct 2023 10:00:03 EDT news616928401 With the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, 2023, and the end of Medicaid's continuous enrollment provisions meant to protect coverage during the pandemic, millions are expected to lose Medicaid coverage in the coming months. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-states-leverage-medicaid-section-waivers.html Addiction Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:48:09 EDT news606498484 The pace of states using preemption to control local authority has quickened and expanded in the United States around issues related to rights of student athletes who are transgender, and the ways race and racism may be taught in US classrooms, according to new data capturing preemption across 15 domains published today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research with the National League of Cities. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-passage-laws-preempting-local-action.html Political science Tue, 28 Feb 2023 15:45:03 EST news596821501 The legal limitations restricting abortion in the United States continue to erode access to reproductive health care at an alarming pace while other states work to protect and expand access, according to updated data released by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University's Beasley School of Law. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-years-roe-wade-states-lack.html Social Sciences Tue, 31 Jan 2023 12:57:37 EST news594392251 In the legislative sessions spanning January 1, 2021, through May 20, 2022, U.S. state legislators introduced 1,531 bills to change the scope and allocation of emergency health authority, according to new data released today by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University's Beasley School of Law. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-01-legislators-bills-authority-state-local.html Health Tue, 24 Jan 2023 10:10:02 EST news593715188 As opioids continue to claim record numbers of lives in the United States, state governments are facing decisions about to how to handle funds resulting from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-12-two-thirds-states-laws-opioid-litigation.html Addiction Thu, 08 Dec 2022 13:52:51 EST news589729968 In the initial two months following the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24, 2022, states have engaged in a flurry of activity to either limit the impact of the decision by shoring up access to abortion or by doubling-down on the new ability to pass laws restricting access to reproductive care. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-sharp-state-legislative-abortion-response.html Political science Thu, 03 Nov 2022 16:10:06 EDT news586710601 By the end of 2019, 39 states had enacted limits restricting prescriptions for opioid analgesics, according to new data released today by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University's Beasley School of Law, with the vast majority of those limits having been enacted since 2016. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-states-limits-opioid-prescriptions.html Addiction Thu, 15 Sep 2022 16:12:36 EDT news582477153 States are acting to decriminalize possession of most or all controlled substances, according to updated data released today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research on LawAtlas.org that provide a high-level overview of legislation seeking to decriminalize personal drug possession. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-stalled-momentum-state-efforts-decriminalize.html Social Sciences Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:29:20 EDT news581866158 Newly updated data released today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research on LawAtlas.org captures details of laws in 21 states that establish new limits on executive authority to act in response to public health emergencies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-states-laws-limiting-authority-health.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 28 Jul 2022 11:14:16 EDT news578225654 In a study of 75 U.S. hospitals' financial assistance policies published today, only 13 clearly indicate how they provide pharmaceutical assistance to patients or how patients may receive discounts on needed medicines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-hospitals-discounted-medicines-low-income-patients.html Medical economics Tue, 31 May 2022 14:54:17 EDT news573227634 As a federal program to serve meals to all US public school students during COVID-19 ends on June 30, the consequences of unpaid school meal debt will resurface for the millions of students nationwide facing food insecurity. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-children-reclaim-burden-school-meal.html Economics & Business Tue, 24 May 2022 13:35:58 EDT news572618154 Seven states now have one or more pending bills that would decriminalize personal possession of all or most controlled substances, according to new legal data published to LawAtlas.org by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University's Beasley School of Law. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-emerging-efforts-states-decriminalize-substances.html Political science Wed, 27 Apr 2022 14:35:59 EDT news570288957 Newly released data synthesizes trends in state laws to increase access to naloxone and sterile syringes. The data, published to the Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research, supports the need to accelerate states' adoption of harm reduction strategies, including providing access to sterile syringes, support services, and the overdose reversal drug naloxone, to prevent opioid overdose death and the transmission of blood-borne diseases in the United States. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-modest-state-laws-naloxone-syringe.html Addiction Thu, 10 Mar 2022 12:52:58 EST news566139170 A variety of legal and policy options exist for states to increase permanent access to life-saving medications to treat opioid use disorder during the pandemic, but most states have not changed their laws or adopted those policies, according to new data released today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-02-states-policy-options-table-opioid.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 16 Feb 2022 09:02:43 EST news564224559 The legal limitations restricting access to reproductive health care in the United States continue to expand at a significant pace, according to updated data released today by the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University on LawAtlas.org. The data now capture comprehensive details of abortion laws from December 2018 through October 2021. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-experiencing-increasingly-restricted-access-abortion.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 09 Dec 2021 11:02:39 EST news558270157 There are now 19 states with laws limiting governors' or state health officials' authority during the COVID-19 pandemic or other emergencies, according to newly updated data published today on LawAtlas.org. This is an increase from 11 states in June 2021. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-sharp-laws-limiting-state-local.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 02 Dec 2021 15:23:55 EST news557681032 The majority of US jurisdictions have not passed fair workweek laws that seek to protect workers from unpredictable scheduling practices, according to a new report published today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-majority-hourly-workers-unpredictable-absence.html Economics & Business Thu, 28 Oct 2021 17:00:49 EDT news554659246 New data released today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research on LawAtlas.org captures details of an emerging effort by states to limit executive authority to act in response to public health emergencies. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-states-laws-limiting-authority-health.html Political science Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:55:35 EDT news554471731