BU Law Hosts Empirical Health Law Conference
The event invited scholars to share their empirical research on health law and policy.
“It looks like you’ll have a tremendous conference,” said Dean Maureen A. O’Rourke as she welcomed guests to the 8th Annual Empirical Health Law Conference. Scholars from across the country joined their colleagues from Boston University for the event, organized by Professor of Law and Nancy Barton Scholar Kathryn Zeiler and hosted by BU Law and Duke University School of Law. “It’s terrific to see people from across the University and across the country to address this timely set of issues” Dean O’Rourke said. “Welcome, and have a great day!”
The interdisciplinary conference drew professors of economics, management, law, and public policy to share their perspectives, methodology, and ideas for empirical research in the health law and policy field. The one-day event featured six presentations, each with time allotted for a discussant and a Q&A period.
Topics considered a range of timely issues. For example, Calvin Luscombe, a PhD candidate with the BU Department of Economics, presented his research on the impact of access to medical marijuana dispensaries on the overall use of prescription opioid pain medication. Amanda Starc, associate professor of strategy at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, explored how direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical drug advertising affect drug utilization. Eric Helland, William F. Podlich Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, closed the discussion by examining whether physicians respond to medical malpractice liability by buying larger homes in states that protect home equity in bankruptcy.
Discussants and conference participants alike responded to each presentation with detailed questions regarding methodology employed in each study and the interpretation of the results, and gave constructive suggestions for strengthening each paper. Events like the Empirical Health Law Conference offer professors across disciplines the opportunity to participate in scholarly conversation in a format that invites discussion and the exchange of ideas.
“The 8th Annual Empirical Health Law Conference met its goal of bringing together researchers from across disciplines to share their work on important health law and policy issues of the day,” said Zeiler. “BU Law, with its exceptional health law program, is a perfect home for this annual conference.”