Objective: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds and conducts research on legal epidemiology, which is the scientific study of law as a factor in the cause, distribution, and prevention of disease in a population. This study describes the results of a scan of articles authored by CDC staff members to characterize the frequency and key features of articles on legal epidemiology and their distribution across CDC departments and divisions.Methods: CDC librarians searched an internal repository for journal articles by CDC staff members that were published from January 1, 2011, to May 31, 2015. Researchers at the Public Health Law Research program reviewed and coded the abstracts to produce data on key features of the articles.Results: We identified 158 CDC-authored articles on legal epidemiology published in 83 journals, most frequently in Preventing Chronic Disease (14 publications), Journal of Public Health Management Practice (10 publications), and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (nine publications). Most articles concerned the use and impact of law as a deliberate tool of intervention. Thirteen articles addressed the legal infrastructure of public health and three articles assessed the incidental or unintended effects of non-health laws. CDC-authored articles encompassed policymaking, implementation, and impact. Literature reviews and studies mapping laws across multiple jurisdictions comprised one-quarter of all publications. Studies addressed laws at the international, national, state, local, and organizational levels. Conclusion: CDC staff members contributed at least 158 articles on legal epidemiology to the literature during the study period. Results of the scan can be used to identify opportunities for the agency to better support research, professional development, networking, publication, and tracking of publication in this emerging field.

Law is a significant factor in public health, and an important tool government can use for protecting and promoting well-being. Legal risks and interventions can only be properly understood through epidemiological and evaluation research. “Legal epidemiology,” the scientific study of law as a factor in the cause, distribution, and prevention of disease in a population, is funded and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the level of work and its distribution across the agency has not been assessed. The EndNote library maintained for Science Clips (publications by CDC authors) was searched by CDC librarians for journal articles published by CDC staff from January 2011 to May 2015. A team at the Public Health Law Research program reviewed and coded the abstracts to produce data on key features of the articles. The Public Health Law Research program identified 225 articles in the realm of legal epidemiology, comprised of 158 scientific evaluations and 67 commentaries or other forms of non-empirical legal scholarship. Most of the scientific studies concerned the use and impact of law as a deliberate tool of intervention. Only 13 of the empirical studies addressed the legal infrastructure of public health (powers, duties and organization of health agencies) and, despite the recognized importance of structural factors on population health, only three scientific studies addressed the incidental or unintended effects of non-health laws. CDC scientific legal studies encompassed policy making, implementation, and impact. Literature reviews and studies scientifically mapping the characteristics and geographic distribution of law made up a quarter of all the empirical publications. Studies addressed a wide range of laws at the international, national, state, local and organizational levels. The scan did not assess the quality or rigor of the research, but did observe that only a minority of the legal epidemiology included a legally-trained co-author. CDC's scientific legal work was published in a total of 83 different journals. The three most frequent publishers were Preventing Chronic Disease (14 publications), Journal of Public Health Management Practice (10 publications) and MMWR - Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (9 publications). CDC researchers make a substantial contribution to the emerging field of legal epidemiology, in both scientific research and commentary on law and its applications in public health. Results of the scan can be used to identify opportunities for the agency to better support research, professional development, networking and publication in this emerging field.

Public Health Law Research: Theory and Methods definitively explores the mechanisms, theories and models central to public health law research – a growing field dedicated to measuring and studying law as a central means for advancing public health. Editors Alexander C. Wagenaar and Scott Burris outline integrated theory drawn from numerous disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences; specific mechanisms of legal effect and guidelines for collecting and coding empirical datasets of statutory and case law; optimal research designs for randomized trials and natural experiments for public health law evaluation; and methods for qualitative and cost-benefit studies of law.. They also discuss the challenge of effectively translating the results of scientific evaluations into public health laws and highlight the impact of this growing field. “How exactly the law can best be used as a tool for protecting and enhancing the public’s health has long been the subject of solely opinion and anecdote. Enter Public Health Law Research, a discipline designed to bring the bright light of science to the relationships between law and health. This book is a giant step forward in illuminating that subject.” -- Stephen Teret, JD, MPH, Professor, Director, Center for Law and the Public's Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health “Wagenaar and Burris bring a dose of much needed rigor to the empirical study of which public health law interventions really matter, and which don’t.” -- Bernard S. Black, JD, Chabraja Professor, Northwestern University Law School and Kellogg School of Management Companion Web site: www.josseybass.com/go/wagenaar

A NEW AND ESSENTIAL RESOURCE FOR THE PRACTICE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual is a definitive guide to investigating acute public health events on the ground and in real time. Assembled and written by experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other leading public health agencies, it offers current and field-tested guidance for every stage of an outbreak investigation -- from identification to intervention and other core considerations along the way. Modeled after Michael Gregg's seminal book Field Epidemiology, this CDC manual ushers investigators through the core elements of field work, including many of the challenges inherent to outbreaks: working with multiple state and federal agencies or multinational organizations; legal considerations; and effective utilization of an incident-management approach. Additional coverage includes: � Updated guidance for new tools in field investigations, including the latest technologies for data collection and incorporating data from geographic information systems (GIS) � Tips for investigations in unique settings, including healthcare and community-congregate sites � Advice for responding to different types of outbreaks, including acute enteric disease; suspected biologic or toxic agents; and outbreaks of violence, suicide, and other forms of injury For the ever-changing public health landscape, The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual offers a new, authoritative resource for effective outbreak response to acute and emerging threats. *** Oxford University Press will donate a portion of the proceeds from this book to the CDC Foundation, an independent nonprofit and the sole entity created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's critical health protection work. To learn more about the CDC Foundation, visit www.cdcfoundation.org.

The set contains 650 essays on all aspects of infectious diseases, including pathogens and pathogenicity, transmission, the immune system, vaccines, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and social concerns such as bioterrorism. These essays will interest science and premedical students, students of epidemiology and public health, public library patrons, and librarians building collections in science and medicine.

Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.