At the age of 88 Kay Carter was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a terminal neurological condition. Just one year following her diagnosis, Ms. Carter was unable to feed herself, unable to move herself and had become incontinent. She wished to put an end to her suffering, but was unable to do so in her native …Read more

On April 22, 2015 Dr. Vivek Murthy was officially sworn in as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States. At 37, Murthy is the youngest person appointed to the position. Despite his young age, Murthy’s impressive credentials are unmatched. Graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University, Murthy earned a joint medical and business degree …Read more

Women’s Link Worldwide is hosting the Gender Justice Uncovered Award (Premios Género y Justicia) (link in Spanish) to recognize important legal victories and losses in the fight for gender rights and equality. One of the candidates is the always commendable Center for Reproductive Rights for their work to combat Kenya’s law that criminalizes the transmission …Read more

Yesterday, IRIN (a humanitarian news and analysis organization) published a strongly worded opinion piece titled “Psychologists stay home: Nepal doesn’t need you.” The author of the piece is a clinical psychologist with experience working in disaster areas. Her take home point is captured by the title: Foreign (primarily Western) psychologists cannot help the Nepalese. “[W]e …Read more

Tyson Foods, one of the United State’s largest meat producers and supplier to McDonalds, has announced that it is working to end the use of human antibiotics in its chicken production by 2017. The use of human antibiotics has been of significant concern to both health advocates, regulators and consumers for some time given the …Read more

Today marks one week before the centennial anniversary of the Armenian genocide. April 24th is the day that Armenians recognize the mass atrocities they experienced in what is now considered one of the first genocides of the 20th century. In brief, from 1915-1923 up to 1.5 million Armenians, 500,000 Greeks and 275,000 Assyrians were killed …Read more

Civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights are often viewed as two distinct set of rights, codified on the international level, respectively, by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  The reason for the codification of these two sets of rights …Read more

One year ago, the WHO declared an Ebola outbreak in Guinea. Yet, it wasn’t until August that the WHO declared an epidemic of international concern. That five-month delay allowed the disease to spread unchecked throughout West Africa, leading to the worst Ebola epidemic ever. While the crisis is ending, it is still not over. Liberia’s …Read more

Far too often discussion regarding narcotics policy and law focuses on effective policing and neglects to consider the protection of the fundamental rights of drug users. From a right to health standpoint, the decision to use a narcotic is viewed as a legitimate, albeit poor, health choice. Much like refusing to go to the gym …Read more

Just this month we have seen the release of two major studies that showed a strong correlation between suicides and unemployment. The first study steps through 30 years of Greece’s economic rises and falls and the rate of suicide. It found statistically significant increases of suicides for both men and women after austerity-related events. The …Read more