Will Swine Flu Merit Quarantines? If So, New Laws Give States Authority
Updated: Model laws drafted amid fears of a possible bird flu pandemic give states the authority to isolate and quarantine victims of the H1N1 virus—frequently referred to as the swine flu—if the disease becomes life-threatening.
The laws, drafted earlier this decade, balance the need to protect civil liberties with the need to protect the public, according to James Hodge, executive director of the Centers for Law and the Public Health, a collaborative effort of Johns Hopkins and Georgetown universities.
The federal government’s declaration of a public health emergency last weekend allows the government to mobilize quickly to help the states responding to the 114 cases of swine flu confirmed in this country. The cases here have been mild, while in Mexico, swine flu has been confirmed as the cause of death in 12 cases and may have caused more than 180 deaths, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The declaration of a federal health emergency is “really about mobilizing federal resources to respond to the emergency event,” Hodge told the ABA Journal in an interview. Now government has the power to quickly mobilize personnel, use volunteers, and help states with money and other resources.
But if quarantines are needed—and Hodge emphasizes there’s no evidence so far that they are a necessity here—it will likely be up to state and local governments to take action. Two model laws drafted by the Centers for Law and the Public Health give states specific authority to act. They are the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and the more comprehensive Turning Point Model State Public Health Act. Hodge says more than half the states have adopted some form of the model laws.
States acting under such laws could order flu testing, ban public gatherings, and issue a sweeping quarantine order, Hodge says. Those states without the new laws may have to rely on more general emergency powers, he says.
A November 2005 ABA Journal story, “The Avian Flu Time Bomb,” provides more details on the Model State Emergency Powers Act. The law gives sweeping powers to governors in public health emergencies, but tempers those powers with due process provisions, time limits and legislative protections. “Under the act, a state would not be empowered to force an individual to be vaccinated, but it would have the power to isolate or quarantine people who refuse vaccination,” the story says. “And while the law would not impose criminal penalties on health care workers who don’t show up during a medical crisis, it would allow the state to deny them licensure.”
As a result of the new laws, Hodge told the ABA Journal in an interview today, “We are definitely better off legally.”
Hodge spoke to the ABA Journal as he was in New York to attend a meeting sponsored by the federal Institute of Medicine on standards of care in national emergencies. He says the meeting was scheduled before news broke of Mexican deaths from the swine flu virus.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Swine Flu Requires Look at Workplace Disaster Policies”
ABAJournal.com: “Swine Flu Fear Prompts Some Changes in Law Firm Protocol”
New York Times: “U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine Flu “
Updated April 30 to link to more recent New York Times coverage and case totals,and add related coverage.
