This page is designed to give a basic introduction to the various internet sites available that discuss and document medical laws, legislation, and policy. A brief description of each site is provided. Sites range from government agency sites to legislative databases. All resources listed are government sites or government sponsored sites. Several government agencies are specially featured.
General Sources
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
Available in English or Spanish, this government site offers the perfect place to begin searching for information on the latest research in health care and the policies surrounding this field.
FEDWORLD Information Network
This site offers a comprehensive central access point for searching, locating, ordering and acquiring government and business information. Search Government Databases such as Agency for Health Care Policy & Research Reports, U.S. Supreme Court Database, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), and World News Connection. Also search government web pages such as Bureau of Indian Affairs, Law Enforcement Service or NTIS Government Research Center.
FindLaw LawCrawler
From this interface, "medicine and law" can be entered and the selection "US Government Sites" can be chosen from the pull down menu. Submit the query and only medical legal information from Government sites will appear in the results. This is a great place to locate specific medical legislation.Health Law Resource Directory
This site targets health care practitioners, professionals or generally anyone interested in learning more about the dynamic field of health care law. It covers the following topics: Telemedicine/Infomatics, Bioethics/Patients, Privacy, Medicare/Medicaid, Fraud & Abuse, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Issues in the News. The author of this site is William L. Manning, an attorney who has practiced health care law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Library of Congress Online Catalog
If you cannot find what you want here, you might not find it anywhere. This is one of the most comprehensive library catalogs in the country. Search by subject (LC subject headings), title, call number, name, guided keyword, keyword, and command keyword. The best feature is the set search limits feature. Limit by date of publication, language, type of material (hint: law material), location, and place of publication.
National Library of Medicine Databases
This site provides links to a variety of resources related to the biomedical and health sciences from both the past and present. Brief descriptions of each database are included. Some featured databases included here are MEDLARS, PubMed, Internet Grateful Med, and HealthSTAR. In addition, there is a link to a searchable directory of Medical Subject Headings. Overall, this is an excellent starting point for locating all kinds of medical legislation.National Science Foundation Office of Legislative and Public Affairs
View hearing summaries, legislation updates, legislation of interest, speeches and news releases. This site offers legislative information pertaining to the scientific community. Start with the "on the hill" link to view major legislation and congressional links.
State and Local Government on the Net
This is a fantastic site for linking to state government sites, multi-state sites, federal resources, and national organizations. Search by keyword or link directly to a state or agency. Under Federal Resources, link to the internet law library to locate state and territorial laws.
THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet
This is the #1 place on the web to check the current status of important or interesting legislation being considered by the United States Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives
Read about the legislative process, see what's going on House floor this week, and search U.S. federal statutes. In addition, search all of the House sites with one simple search screen.
U.S. Senate
Search the 106th congress for bills by number or keyword and see what happened yesterday in the Senate. View the tentative schedule for today's activities and connect with your state senators. Most importantly follow the legislative link on the top bar (or follow it below :).
U.S. Senate Legislative Activities
See the schedule for 1999 and view the bills appropriated by the 106th congress. Note the link at the end of the page to pending business.
CDC: Center for Disease Control & Prevention
CDC: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
One of the eight agencies within the Department of Health & Human Services, CDC's mission is to promote health and prevent disease, injury, and disability. This site provides valuable statistics, data, and database links such as the following links.
Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry: Relevant Legislation
CDC performs many of the administrative functions for this organization. This site provides access to legislation that affects both CDC and ATSDR.CDC Wonder Data Sets: Databases & Factsheets
After signing on as an anonymous user, select "get info." From here, the desired data set can be obtained. These data sets range from technical reports to searchable databases.
Health Topics A - Z Factsheets
This link provides access to the listing of disease and health topics found on the CDC Web site. It is continually updated. Each topic has an extensive fact sheet.
DHHS or HHS: Department of Health & Human Services
DHHS: Department of Health & Human Services
The US Department of Health & Human Services offers a wealth of valuable information. Users can search the site itself, link to the government's healthfinder database, examine news & public affairs, or link directly to research, policy & administration. The Gateways link, perhaps the most useful, sends the user to a directory of databases sponsored by HHS.
Research, Policy, & Administration Provided by HHS
This directory offers links to bills, testimony, and recent legislation dealing with the HHS. In addition, links to other federal government research, policy & administration sites are listed.
Recent Laws and Executive Orders
This includes both legislation pertaining to HHS enacted in the 103rd and 104th Congresses and recent Executive Orders.Search Bill Reports Since 1985
Here you can search many databases sponsored by Office of the Secretary and some other HHS agencies. Additional databases and their links are suggested. Primarily indexes legislation pending before congress.Search Congressional Testimony Since 1992
Again, this site provides access to many databases sponsored by Office of the Secretary and other HHS agencies. In this case, though, the information retrieved will deal primarily with testimony delivered to the Congress on legislation and program oversight.
FDA: Food & Drug Administration
FDA: Food & Drug Administration
FDA is the nation's oldest consumer protection agencies. Its job is to monitor the manufacture, import, transport, storage and sale of about $1 trillion worth of products each year. Thus, they are responsible for enforcing many consumer related laws dealing with food, cosmetics, medical products, and much more.
Children & Tobacco: Litigation News
Here obtain information on the legislation that governs tobacco use and children. Three links here are particularly useful: Litigation News: Court Opinions and Briefs, Preemption of State and Local Requirements, and Tobacco Regulations and Related Federal Register Documents.FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research: Regulatory Guidance
This directory offers links to government offices, acts, documents, manuals, and agencies that deal with drug evaluation or research.Laws Enforced by the Food & Drug Administration and Related Statutes
This site is a compilation of laws enforced by the Food and Drug Administration with related statutes. The list includes almost 40 laws, policies, and acts that govern FDA as well as a link to the archives.
FedLaw
FedLaw: Federal Laws and Legislation
This site has assembled references of use for people doing Federal legal research. References can be accessed directly through "point and click" hypertext connections. Try searching under the topical index, federal laws by subject, or general reference. In addition, the left side bar offers quick links state laws, U.S. code, federal courts, legislation (from several congresses), and federal regulations. Be sure to check the "what's new" link.
General Laws & Regulations
From U.S. Codes to Public Laws and Executive Orders, this list offers excellent coverage of government sites focusing of federal codes, laws, and regulations.Health, Food, & Drug Safety Laws
Listed here are the laws pertaining to health, food, and drug safety. Laws listed go back to the early 1960's. In addition, regulations and administrations are listed.
ODPHP: Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP)
This government organization works with the Office of Public Health and Science, Office of the Secretary, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen disease prevention and health promotion priorities of the HHS agencies. This site provides links to these other agencies as well as online publications, and related sites.
The following internet sites are supported by ODPHP in conjunction with the Health & Human Service Department.Families & Children Section, U.S. State & Local Government Gateway
This site offers answers to questions regarding adoption, child welfare, medicare & medicaid, and social security. The left side bar also offers state and local links as well as information by type or topic.Families & Children: Laws & RegulationsHealth Section, U.S. State & Local Government Gateway
Child Welfare Policy, the Federal Register, GPO Access Databases, Proposed Children & Families Regulations, and the Green Book can all be accessed here as well as additional legal sites.
Managed care, occupational health, veteran's health, welfare, women's health, and consumer safety are just some of the topics covered from this internet gateway. Much like the Families & Children Section, the left side bar offers links to state & local agencies, information by topic, and federal one stop sites.Health: Laws & RegulationsHealthfinder Database
Laws, policies, and regulations relating to government health agencies and health topics are provided through the links on this web page.
This is one of the government's more useful resources. Search for anything health related. Select from one of the topics on the home page or search/browse the index with keywords and subject headings.National Information Resource Center
This site is designed to put health professionals or consumers who have health questions in touch with those organizations that are best able to provide answers.Health Information Resource Center Database Keyword Listing
This database indexes 1,100 organizations and government offices that provide health information upon request. This particular site will find these organizations by keyword listings.
OSHA: Occupational Safety & Health Administration
OSHA: Occupational Safety & Health AdministrationOSHA is governed by the Department of Labor. This site has a news room, library/reading room, regulations & compliance listing (link to this below), and outreach links. Scan the subject index or search the site directly.
OSHA: Regulations and Compliance Links
For laws and regulations governing OSHA, follow this link.
NARA: National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
NARA's primary responsibility is to preserve our nation's history through the management of all Federal records. In doing so, this organization has provided access to this site which contains a research room, online text of the Federal Register, and archives resources.
NARA Federal Register
This site provides access to federal regulations, public laws, presidential documents, and research tools.
NIH: National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
Comprised of 25 separate Institutes and Centers, the NIH is one of eight health agencies that is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This site serves as a comprehensive access point to all 25 institutes.
The following National Institutes are included here primarily because they have direct legislative links on their home web pages. Other Institutes can be examined through their own search interface or site map to locate pertinent legislative information. Institutes not included below can be found through the previous link to the National Institutes of Health.NIH Web Search
Search the NIH site from this location.National Cancer Institute
Link to several useful sources of information relating to government regulated cancer research and information. The most useful links from this site are the legislative link and the link to cancer trials in progress.NCI Office of Legislation and Congressional ActivitiesNational Human Genome Research Institute
Check legislative history or pending legislation from this source. This is the one stop source for legal information regarding America's fight against cancer.
NHGRI is the federal government's primary agency for the support of biomedical research. This agency is responsible for the government's Human Genome Project (HGP), an international research effort to characterize the genomes of human and selected model organisms.Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Human Genome ResearchNational Institute on Drug Abuse
This source explores the ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project and related research. Policy, Public Affairs, & Legislation is the link of choice from this site.
This institute's main mission is to "lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction." Their research encompasses both the biomedical and behavioral foundations of drug abuse. This site offers a wealth of information regarding the past, present, and future of drug research in America.NIDA: Legislative and Congressional Activities for the 106th CongressNational Institute of Nursing Research
While the legislative link from NIDA's home page only offers information about the 106th congress, it is still a valuable resource for current legislative information. This site includes a legislative chronology, director's reports, congressional testimony, and several valuable links to sites of interest.
The NINR exists for the purpose of supporting "clinical and basic research to establish a scientific basis for the care of individuals across the life span." This site offers insight into their history and future plans, current news information, legislative activities, research programs, and scientific advances.NINR: Legislative Activities & PolicyNational Library of Medicine
Although this site only offers a brief listing of links to NINR's policy and legislation, the information provided is pertinent to current issues in nursing. It provides access to both the 1999 and 2000 statement to the House Appropriations Committee on Labor as well as a link to Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Search Engines.
This institute offers access to the world's largest medical library, a wealth of internet databases, and so much more. The National Library is the creator of MEDLINE, Internet Grateful Med, PubMed, and so many other valuable medical resources.National Library of Medicine Legislation
This site offers access to Title 42 also known as the Public Health and Welfare Chapter-6A Public Health Service-Subchapter III, National Research Institutes.
My name is Shae Tetterton and I would like to offer a special thanks to Cherish's Best of the Web Image Archive who provided my background for this site. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at shaetett@yahoo.com.