A state governments authority to regulate the safety, health, and morals of its citizens is called

Field epidemiology is defined generally as the application of epidemiologic methods to unexpected health problems when an epidemiologic investigation is needed (6). As field epidemiologists conduct such investigations, they should be cognizant of the legal authorities and potential legal parameters around their work to maximize the benefit of the work and minimize possible legal risks.

State Legal Authorities

A state’s inherent “police powers” provide state and local health officials broad authority to conduct field epidemiology.[e] As a practical matter, institutions and individuals generally voluntarily cooperate in epidemiologic investigations. However, just as many field investigations require support from competent laboratory staff, a field investigation also may require support from competent legal staff when voluntary cooperation is not forthcoming. If an investigator meets with resistance, state and local public health officials may need the assistance of their general counsel or their state’s attorney general for such actions as applying for a court order to compel an entity (or individual) to grant investigators access to premises or records. [f] Although assistance from legal counsel might never be needed, it is a good idea nonetheless to identify the attorney or legal office that can supply legal advice and support before the epidemiologic investigation begins.

In addition to the legal authorities that enable health agencies to undertake epidemiologic investigations, myriad related considerations exist regarding responsibilities and authorities for the individual elements of an investigation. Such considerations encompass the authorities necessary to

• Obtain microbiological and other laboratory specimens from hospitals and private laboratories;
• Review patients’ medical records kept in the offices of physicians, dentists, and other healthcare providers;
• Administer questionnaires to and collect specimens from persons affected in the outbreak;
• Administer questionnaires to unaffected persons who might serve as controls in analytic studies and/or as important sources of information;
• Retain information about medical histories and laboratory results;
• Protect confidentiality;
• Implement a variety of measures intended to control the immediate problem, prevent recurrences, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions;
• Collect additional data on an ongoing basis;
• Recall an implicated product;
• Close a business or otherwise restrict activities relating to the source of an outbreak;
• Use isolation or other forms of restrictions of activities of affected persons;
• Quarantine exposed persons;
• Vaccinate or administer antibiotics to exposed groups.

Public health surveillance systems in the United States are established as an exercise of the states’ police powers. These state-based systems are designed for reporting of diseases and conditions of public health interest by healthcare professionals and laboratories. All states have laws and regulations that mandate the reporting of a list of diseases and conditions, as well as prescribing the timing and nature of information to be reported and the penalties for noncompliance with the reporting laws (7). Required disease reporting varies greatly among states and territories. Some states have general statutes that empower the health commissioner or state boards of health to create, monitor, and revise the list of reportable diseases and conditions (8). Some states require reports under both statutes and health department regulations (9). Reporting may be required of a variety of professionals and organizational entities, including physicians and other healthcare providers, diagnostic laboratories, clinical facilities, and schools and daycare centers (7,10,11).

The scope and nature of reporting requirements vary considerably by state, differing, for example, by the number of conditions required for reporting, time periods within which conditions must be reported, agencies to which reports must be submitted, and persons or sources required to report. Moreover, despite the legal requirements for reporting, adherence to and completeness of reporting also vary substantially by infectious disease agent, ranging from 6% to 90% for different common infectious conditions (12). The deficiencies in reporting by physicians are accounted for, in part, by limitations in physicians’ knowledge of reporting requirements and procedures, as well as the assumption that laboratories have reported cases of infectious diseases (7,13).

Federal Legal Authorities

Federal public health officials have limited statutory authorities to initiate independent epidemiologic investigations. One general statutory authority that applies to federal epidemiologic investigations is section 301(a) of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (42 USC § 241(a)) (14), which provides

The Secretary [of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)] shall conduct in the [Public Health] Service, and encourage, cooperate with, and render assistance to the other appropriate public authorities, scientific institutions, and scientists in the conduct of, and promote the coordination of, research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, and studies relating to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of physical and mental diseases and impairments of man.

In addition, subsection 6 of section 301(a) of the PHSA authorizes the HHS Secretary to “make available to health officials, scientists, and appropriate public health and other nonprofit institutions and organizations, technical advice and assistance on the application of statistical methods to experiments, studies, and surveys in health and medical fields.” Although these provisions are broadly worded and are permissive rather than compulsory, they nonetheless provide legal authority for assistance by federal epidemiologists in disease outbreaks and other instances in which such assistance is requested. In practice, local and state public health officials often request federal assistance in epidemiologic investigations. Federal public health employees who collaborate with state and local public health authorities in such investigations generally are assisting the state or local investigation under the state’s authority.

Which level of government is responsible for the health safety and morals of citizens quizlet?

When both state and national governments possess a certain level of authority it is called?

What is reserved government?

What reserved power?