Public Health Law Discussions: Vaccination, Gun Control, Labeling

This assignment presents a series of discussions on key topics in public health law. The first discussion analyzes the role of an attorney general defending a vaccination statute against parental objections, weighing the benefits of vaccination programs against cultural beliefs. The second discussion examines the advantages and disadvantages of state and federal emergency declarations, highlighting impacts on citizen rights and economic stability. The third discussion explores labeling laws for nutritional supplements, arguing for stricter regulations to prevent consumer misinformation and promote fair market competition. The final discussion presents arguments for and against strict gun control laws, focusing on the protection of women and children, and the role of gun ownership in crime rates. The student provides their personal opinion on gun control as well. The assignment includes cited references to support the arguments presented.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH LAW 1
Public health law
Name
Institution

PUBLIC HEALTH LAW 2
Discussion 1
As an attorney general, the response to the case filed by parents based on the vaccination
statute, I will have to listen to both parties and evaluate the importance and demerits of the
statute that is vaccination of children to give a prompt and considerate judgment on the issue.
According to the vaccination and immunization act, the process of vaccination is aimed at
preventing the breakout of some common disease to children like measles, tuberculosis and
others which are very harmful to kids due to poor immune system which has not fully developed
(Whelan, 2016).
To start with, the vaccinations program has positively impacted the health system in the
country by preventing the outbreak of common infections which affects kids below five years.
During the vaccination program, qualified doctors walk door to door to administer vaccines to
kids thus is essential in maintaining healthy nation. The government has sponsored this program
to reduce the cost of medication which might be needed to treat such infections (Barraza, Schmit
& Hoss, 2017).
Secondly, vaccination program for kids is beneficial to both parents and their kids since it
will help to reduce the child mortality rate which has been rising due to outbreak of the common
disease that can be prevented through vaccination.
The negative impact of vaccination is linked with the cultural beliefs since it does not
conform to some of the traditional beliefs about medication which has been washed away due to
technological advancement in the field of medicine. Such beliefs are against the program.
according to the analysis done on the impacts of the vaccination statute to the households, I,
therefore, rule in favor of the vaccination statute since it aims at preventing disease outbreak in
the country and saves lives of kids below fives year (Winter, Zipprich & Harriman, 2018).

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Discussion 2
Benefits of state or federal emergency declaration
State of emergency can be declared by the head of the state following the occurrence of an
event like a security breach which might require the attention of the citizens. One of the benefits
of a state of emergency declaration is to prevent suffering due to the threat. Most of the events
like security breach by the terrorist or political coup always result in the suffering of innocent
citizens as they will be deprived some of their rights or physically injured by the coup.
State emergency declaration will help to prevent loss of lives, property damage to the innocent
citizens caused by political instability. During this period of war, people will tend to loot most of the
supermarkets and destroy private properties which cause loss to the owners (Gausche-Hill, et al.,
2015).
Disadvantages of state or federal emergency declaration
During the state of emergency, movement of people is restricted by the government hence
people are not allowed to move freely from one place to another which negatively influences the
economic status of the country as no business will be conducted.
State of emergency causes fear and insecurity to the public as they are restricted to access
information or any update concerning the issue. This results in mental torture among citizens due
to fear (Hollander, Than & Mueller, 2016).

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Discussion 3
According to the US Food and Drug administration, labelling laws require the company to
indicate the descriptive name of the product by clearly stating that it is categorized under dietary
supplements to avoid confusion in the market. A list of the ingredients and the net content of the
product should also be included in the label (Pomeranz, Palafox & Harris, 2018).
The law regulating the labelling activities of the supplement food should be stricter than
before to distinct supplements and the main food offered to the market for consumption. The
reason for the stricter law regarding labelling of supplementary food is to avoid misleading
information about the product to the consumer. This law will help to avoid misleading
information provided in the label about the content and ingredients list of the product offered to
the market. By being stricter, companies will not provide misleading labels about their product
(Lanser, Covar & Bird, 2016).
Being strict on the labelling laws will ensure healthy competition in the market. Healthy
competition will be attained by ensuring that each firm labels their supplementary food products
accordingly to avoid similarity in the label as the original producer of that particular food. The
law will ensure that every business to stick to their line of production without violating the law.
Being strict to the labelling law by the government will ensure production of quality
supplementary food substance with the correct ingredients and quantity by the organization.
High-quality products will be offered to the market for consumption hence to some extent the
law will be against exploitation of the consumers by the business based on the content and
quality of their product (Buijs, Van der Meulen & Jiao, 2018).

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Discussion 4
Arguments for strict gun control laws
More gun control laws are needed to protect women and children from domestic abusers. In
the United States, women are murdered with guns at their homes daily hence it has become state
issue following the rising cases of gun murder at home. Therefore strict gun control laws should
be enacted by the government specifically in the US to control murder cases (Goss, 2017).
Secondly, it is believed that more gun control laws will reduce gun deaths in the country.
With strict gun laws, few cases of gun deaths will be witnessed as gun ownership laws will not
allow careless shootings hence reduce gun death cases.
Thirdly, the control laws should be strict since guns are rarely being used for self-defense
rather to scare people during criminal activities. Most people in the United States are using guns
to protect themselves during crime which is against gun control laws.
Arguments against strict gun control laws
It is believed that gun control laws do not determine crimes rather gun ownership do. Gun
ownership will determine the level of criminal activities since it depends on the personality,
principles and intentions of the gun owner (Kleck, 2017).
Gun control laws will not limit criminals from obtaining guns or breaking the laws.
Criminals will access guns with or without strict gun control laws since that is the only weapon
they must use in conducting their criminal activities hence the government should find an
alternative measure in dealing with the crime rate (Spitzer, 2015).

PUBLIC HEALTH LAW 6
References
Barraza, L., Reiss, D., & Freeman, P. (2019). Legal and Policy Responses to Vaccine-
Preventable Disease Outbreaks. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 47(2_suppl), 11-14.
Buijs, J., Van der Meulen, B., & Jiao, L. (2018). Food Information in Chinese Food Law. Legal
systematic analysis of labeling and advertisement requirements of food products in the
People’s Republic of China. Legal systematic analysis of labeling and advertisement
requirements of food products in the People’s Republic of China (October 14, 2018).
Gausche-Hill, M., Ely, M., Schmuhl, P., Telford, R., Remick, K. E., Edgerton, E. A., & Olson, L.
M. (2015). A national assessment of pediatric readiness of emergency departments. JAMA
pediatrics, 169(6), 527-534.
Goss, K. A. (2017). The socialization of conflict and its limits: gender and gun politics in
America. Social Science Quarterly, 98(2), 455-470.
Hollander, J. E., Than, M., & Mueller, C. (2016). State-of-the-art evaluation of emergency
department patients presenting with potential acute coronary syndromes. Circulation,
134(7), 547-564.
Kleck, G. (2017). Point blank: Guns and violence in America. Routledge.
Lanser, B. J., Covar, R., & Bird, J. A. (2016). Food allergy needs assessment, training
curriculum, and knowledge assessment for child care. Annals of Allergy, Asthma &
Immunology, 116(6), 533-537.
Pomeranz, J. L., Palafox, M. J. R., & Harris, J. L. (2018). Toddler drinks, formulas, and milks:
Labeling practices and policy implications. Preventive medicine, 109, 11-16.
Spitzer, R. J. (2015). Politics of gun control. Routledge.

PUBLIC HEALTH LAW 7
Whelan, A. M. (2016). Lowering the age of consent: pushing back against the anti-vaccine
movement. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 44(3), 462-473.
Winter, K., Zipprich, J., & Harriman, K. (2018). Pertussis in California: a tale of 2 epidemics.
The Pediatric infectious disease journal, 37(4), 324-328.