HIGHLIGHTS
Administrative law is the law the governs the organization and powers of
governmental agencies.
Public health law is mostly state and local administrative law.
Participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other governmental programs
subjects medical care practitioners to broad administrative regulations.
Violation of administrative regulations can result in fines and
imprisonment.
Administrative searches allow access to regulated medical care
practitioners’ records and to medical information about individuals.
Introduction
Public health agencies were among the first administrative agencies, with
some, such as the Boston Board of Health, able to trace their linage to the
colonial period. Medical care finance is heavily regulated, and these regulations
shape medical care delivery. The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) enforce Medicare/Medicaid regulations, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) determines what drugs and medical devices are available
and what information about them must be provided by the manufacturer, the
Office of the Inspector General for HHS
(OIG) investigates possible false
claims, state licensing boards determine if the practitioner may practice at all,
the local fire department will check the clinic for fire hazards, and, the
Department of Justice (DOJ) may prosecute for criminal misconduct. Public
health and medical care practitioners must understand how administrative law
differs from criminal law and from private civil litigation. Although agencies
(other than DOJ or other prosecutors) cannot put you in jail, they can take
away your livelihood, and they do not have to give you all the constitutional
protections that the criminal law system provides.
