title: Legal briefing: coerced treatment and involuntary confinement for contagious disease.
abstract: This issue's "Legal Briefing" column covers recent legal developments involving coerced treatment and involuntary confinement for contagious disease. Recent high profile court cases involving measles, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, and especially Ebola, have thrust this topic back into the bioethics and public spotlights. This has reignited debates over how best to balance individual liberty and public health. For example, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has officially requested public comments, held open hearings, and published a 90-page report on "ethical considerations and implications" raised by "U.S. public policies that restrict association or movement (such as quarantine)." Broadly related articles have been published in previous issues of The Journal of Clinical Ethics. We categorize recent legal developments on coerced treatment and involuntary confinement into the following six categories: 1. Most Public Health Confinement Is Voluntary 2. Legal Requirements for Involuntary Confinement 3. New State Laws Authorizing Involuntary Confinement 4. Quarantine Must Be as Least Restrictive as Necessary 5. Isolation Is Justified Only as a Last Resort 6. Coerced Treatment after Persistent Noncompliance.
authors: Health Law Institute, Hamline University School of Law, MS-D2017, 1536 Hewitt Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55104-1237 USA, tpope-1@hamline.edu.
authors: Thaddeus Mason
authors: TM
authors: Pope
authors: Hamline University School of Law 1536 Hewitt Ave, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55104 USA. hbughman01@hamline.edu.
authors: Heather Michelle
authors: HM
authors: Bughman
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003068:Coercion; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D023801:Directly Observed Therapy / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D055118:Medication Adherence; D011634:Public Health / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D011790:Quarantine / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents