Public Health Law & Policy in Canada, 4th Edition

In their introduction to the latest edition of Public Health Law and Policy in Canada, the editors are unequivocal about the importance of this area of growing interest and scholarship. This text, they explain, “explores a range of perspectives that examine how law, in many forms and contexts, plays a critical role in protecting the public from known and emerging threats and promoting conditions for health.”

Written and edited by leading health law scholars and featuring contributions from legal and health experts from across the country, this book provides a comprehensive overview of our Canadian public health law and policy system. Now in its fourth edition, Public Health Law and Policy in Canada continues to be the definitive guide to the foundations of our public health law system. Building on past content, it offers an in-depth analysis of current critical public health issues and includes new chapters on incarceration, mental health law and pharmaceutical regulation, making it a valuable resource for anyone working in the public health sphere – from academics, to practitioners, to policymakers.

Authoritative and current
This long-anticipated fourth edition has been extensively revised to include up-to-date case studies, case law and information on recent developments in public health law and policy. Both nationally and internationally, public health law remains a key area as it addresses new and evolving matters of concern that risk adversely affecting our health on a broad scale, such as the opioid crisis, the potential harms that may result from the legalization of cannabis in Canada, increased rates of vaping, the 2019 outbreak of Ebola and climate change. Public Health Law and Policy in Canada, 4th Edition will help readers navigate these complex, emerging issues and develop policies to manage them.

The invaluable features of this publication include:

• Significant revisions since the last edition was published in 2013. Updates include new chapters that expand the scope of the analysis and examine new trends and issues in Canadian public health law and policy, such as incarceration, mental health law and pharmaceutical regulation
• An impressive line-up of contributors, including prominent practitioners and professors who are public health law and policy experts
• A discussion about the impact that public health concerns and our public health system have on Indigenous communities

This wide-ranging and insightful treatise will be of particular interest to:

• Law, medical and public health students as it offers an overview of the foundations of the public health law system as well as in-depth analysis of the critical issues it currently faces
• Government officials as it provides a framework for understanding and developing public health policy
• Health care professionals working in public health as it reviews current approaches to addressing public health issues while providing guidance on how to navigate the legal and ethical issues of emerging public health problems
• Lawyers and in-house counsel in medical and health law and/or hospitals as it’s a great resource for getting updated information on current public health law and policy matters
• Law libraries and associations as it’s a practical point of reference for their patrons