College of Law professors co-publish article on obesity


An article co-written by several ASU College of Law professors was recently published in the Duke Forum for Law and Social Change.

Authors of the article include James G. Hodge Jr., Lincoln Professor of Health Law and Ethics; Daniel Orenstein, Lincoln Fellow for Ethics and Health Policy; Leila Barraza, Fellow in the Public Health Law and Policy Program; Lexi C. White, a researcher at the Public Health Law and Policy Program; and Alicia Corbett, an Affiliated Professional of the Public Health Law and Policy Program.

The article, “New frontiers in obesity control: Innovative public health legal interventions,” explores how obesity is being considered a global killer and a pandemic.

According to the article, the prevalence of obesity among Americans over the last three decades has led to major efforts to better understand the condition, assess its root causes and negative impacts, and address them through medical, public health and legal/policy reforms. These professors and experts attempt to outline the latest preventative measures taken by Federal, state and local governments, and the legal implications involved.

To read the full article, click here.

Hodge is the ASU Lincoln Professor of Health Law and Ethics and Director of the Public Health Law and Policy Program. He is a national expert on public health emergency legal and ethical preparedness and public health information privacy law and policy. 

Orenstein’s current research and scholarship focus on issues of public health law and ethics, including emergency legal preparedness, public health emergency ethics, obesity control and prevention, and infectious disease policy. He also lectures on other health law and public health law topics, including health care reform and end-of-life issues.

Barraza, a 2008 alumna of the College of Law, was a scholar in the Center for Law, Science and Innovation, and also conducted legal research on autism and vaccine-related litigation.

White is a J.D./Ph.D Candidate at the College of Law and School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

Corbett is a Partner at Keller Rohrback PLC in Phoenix, Arizona.