The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Health Law addresses some of the most critical issues facing scholars, legislators, and judges today: how to protect against threats to public health that can quickly cross national borders, how to ensure access to affordable health care, and how to regulate the pharmaceutical industry, among many others. When matters of life and death literally hang in the balance, it is especially important for policymakers to get things right, and the making of policy can be greatly enhanced by learning from the successes and failures of approaches taken in other countries. Where there are "common challenges" in law and health, there is much to be gained from experiences elsewhere. Thus, for example, countries that suffered early from the COVID-19 pandemic provided valuable lessons about public health interventions for countries that were hit later. Accordingly, the Handbook considers key health law questions from a comparative perspective. In health law, common challenges are frequent. In addition to ones already mentioned, there are questions about addressing the social determinants of health (e.g., poverty and pollution), organizing health systems to optimize use of available resources, ensuring that physicians provide care of the highest quality, protecting patient privacy in a data-driven world, and properly balancing patient autonomy with the interest in preserving life when reproductive and end-of-life decisions are made. This Handbook's wide scope and comparative take on health law are particularly timely. Economic globalization has made it increasingly important for different countries to harmonize their legal rules. Students, practitioners, scholars, and policymakers need to understand how health laws vary across national boundaries and how reforms can ensure a convergence toward an optimal set of legal rules, or ensure that specific legal arrangements are needed in particular contexts. Indeed, comparative analysis has become essential for legal scholars, and The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Health Law is the only resource that provides such an analysis in health law.

"This book explores the influence of justice principles in the field of health care law. By examining the role played by key stakeholders, it tracks the evolution of distributive norms for the allocation of healthcare resources in western welfare states. The issue of justice in the field of health care is becoming more central, with concerns over access, cost and provision. Recent reforms such as Obamacare in the United States and NHS Social and Care Act in the United Kingdom have seen increased pressure on governments to find just and equitable solutions to the problem of healthcare provision. This book addresses the fundamental question of what role justice should play in the allocation of services in the field and offers a more optimal model for their distribution"--

Health law and policy in Nigeria is an evolving and complex field of law, spanning a broad legal landscape and drawn from various sources. In addressing and interacting with these sources the volume advances research on health care law and policy in Nigeria and spells the beginning of what may now be formally termed the ’Nigerian health law and policy’ legal field. The collection provides a comparative analysis of relevant health policies and laws, such as reproductive and sexual health policy, organ donation and transplantation, abortion and assisted conception, with those in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and South Africa. It critically examines the duties and rights of physicians, patients, health institutions and organizations, and government parastatals against the backdrop of increased awareness of rights among patient populations. The subjects, which are discussed from a legal, ethical and policy-reform perspective, critique current legislation and policies and make suggestions for reform. The volume presents a cohesive, comparative, and comprehensive analysis of the state of health law and policy in Nigeria with those in the US, Canada, South Africa, and the UK. As such, it provides a valuable comparison between Western and Non-Western countries.

This book provides a systematic and interdisciplinary study of occupational mental health legislation in seven countries. The work presents a study of the laws, policies, and legal interpretations to help prevent mental health problems from occurring in the workplace and appropriately address problems once they do occur. With a view to improving provision in Japan, the author examines the legal issues relating to workplace mental health and stress in the USA, UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Germany. In presenting a comparative discussion of mental health issues in the workplace, this book seeks to establish a minimum for legal rights and duties that contribute to prevention and not just compensation. With its detailed comparative and descriptive coverage of legal and related provisions in a range of countries, the book will be a valuable resource for academics, policy-makers and practitioners working in labour and employment law, social welfare, occupational health and human resource management.

The standard classifications of health systems don't allow for the complexity and variety that exists around the world. Federico Toth sets out a new framework for understanding the many ways in which health systems can be organized and systematically analyses the health systems chosen by 27 OECD countries. He provides a great deal of up-to-date data on financing models, healthcare spending, insurance coverage, methods of organizing providers, healthcare personnel, remuneration methods for doctors and hospitals, development trajectories and recent reforms. For each of the major components of the healthcare system, the organizational models and the possible variants from which individual countries can ideally select are defined. Then, based on the organizational solutions actually adopted, the various national systems are grouped into homogeneous families. With its clear, jargon-free language and concrete examples, this is the most accessible comparative study of international healthcare arrangements available.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll, contractual parties have frequently faced significant obstacles in performing their contractual obligations due to unexpected impediments arising from the pandemic and government measures taken in response. This indispensable book – the most comprehensive comparative examination of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contractual performance – discusses the legal provisions and doctrines available to address these issues. The book examines under what circumstances COVID-19-related impediments may excuse contractual performance or lead to modification or termination of the affected contractual obligations in twelve representative civil and common law jurisdictions – the United States, England and Wales, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, China, and Russia. For each country, the book examines the following aspects in depth: the relevant fundamental legal principles; the various legal emergency valves available to an obligor to respond to COVID-19-related events; any remedies available to the obligee; selected examples for specific government measures related to particular types of contracts (e.g., construction, employment, lease agreements); and how the legal framework applies in typical factual scenarios. As further legal and factual developments occur, and with further jurisdictions being added, this publication will continue to be updated both online and in print. The book provides a detailed explanation under what conditions the emergency valves specific to each jurisdiction may apply. It cuts through the seeming complexity of the various legal rules and doctrines in these jurisdictions and shows that they often produce similar results in practice. The book thus opens up a wealth of insights for businesses, practitioners, and academics around the globe by providing an easily accessible analytical framework across key jurisdictions and typical factual scenarios. ‘Definitely mandatory reading for practitioners and academics alike!’ –Klaus Peter Berger, University of Cologne ‘Everyone who has had or is likely to have a brush with a COVID-19-induced legal issue would be well advised to keep this book within arm’s reach.’ – Davinder Singh, Davinder Singh Chambers LLC, Singapore ‘The “holy book” for all those lawyers whose clients become ensnared in the rising attempts to fix legal liability midst the rampant COVID-19.’ – Charles Brower, Twenty Essex, London

Climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have brought into focus how vulnerable our “normal” lives are. More than ever, there is a need to regulate the competition for and exploitation of increasingly scare natural resources. But how are the competing interests to be balanced? And who is to undertake the regulation? The air, the climate, and the seas escape national boundaries. And while the reset of the pandemic may have alleviated some of the pressure, it has also highlighted how health and hygiene regimes are of global importance. The present volume does not capture the breadth or depth of current concerns of international environmental law. However, it does offer eight amuse-bouches to whet readers’ intellectual appetites: EU perspectives on habitat protection and risk management in times of climate change and health crises; WTO perspectives on the renewable energy sector and the protection of marine habitats; a discourse on how international law imposes environmental responsibilities with regard to disputed maritime areas; a comparison of national regulations against each other and the international framework for dealing with plastic waste; a look at Kuwait’s evolving approach to waste disposal and management; an examination of Brazil’s legal framework for dam safety in the wake of recent catastrophic events; and finally, a pioneering Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) in regard to destruction of the Amazon