Research Results

In the first year that two Florida laws aimed at curbing opioid prescriptions were in effect, the state's top opioid prescribers wrote significantly fewer prescriptions of this type of pain medication, according to a new study published June 2, 2016, in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

This article examines gun-related suicide and violent crime rates in people with serious mental illnesses, and whether legal restrictions on firearm sales to people with a history of mental health adjudication effectively prevent gun violence.

This study examined the extent of public awareness and use of school-based physical activity resources in Los Angeles County. Findings suggest that while a large percentage (57.7%) of people have access to school-based physical activity resources, only a portion (30.3%) use them.

This study examined the variability in state laws related to workplace wellness programs for public and private employers. It finds that 33 states and DC had laws related to workplace wellness programs in 2014. State laws varied greatly in their methods to encourage or shape wellness program requirements.

Access maps on LawAtlas.org that detail laws for public and private employers.

A 2011 Boston regulation that set minimum pricing and packaging requirements has successfully reduced the availability of fruit-flavored cigars that were becoming increasingly popular among youth, according to a new study published in Tobacco Control.

In this Perspective for the New England Journal of Medicine the authors compare US and UK approaches to harm reduction, particularly as it applies to e-cigarette policy.

The study, published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, examines the relationship between state laws regulating flu vaccines for health care workers and the state-level immunization rates among health care workers between 2001-2011. Laws mandating flu vaccines for health care workers increase their vaccination rates, according to a new study.

While prescription drug brand names can increase medication name recognition by patients and help differentiate products, they can also confuse patients and reduce appropriate use of generic drugs. Given increased pressure to reduce drug costs and use medicines safely and effectively, can the prescription drug naming system be improved?

Regulators are implementing new programs that require manufacturers of products containing certain chemicals of concern to identify, evaluate, and adopt viable, safer alternatives. Such programs raise the difficult question for policymakers and regulated businesses of which alternatives are “viable” and “safer.” To address that question, these programs use “alternatives analysis,” an emerging methodology that integrates issues of human health and environmental effects with technical feasibility and economic impact.

Emerging "prevention-based" approaches to chemical regulation seek to minimize the use of toxic chemicals by mandating or directly incentivizing the adoption of viable safer alternative chemicals or processes. California and Maine are beginning to implement such programs, requiring manufacturers of consumer products containing certain chemicals of concern to identify and evaluate potential safer alternatives. This article identifies an integrated set of design principles for regulatory alternatives analysis, and illustrates the application of those principles.