Chat with a Law Librarian
Step 1: News and Current Awareness
If you aren't sure where to start in your research or are having trouble picking a topic, the best place to begin is with current awareness sources. News articles, blogs, and social media are a good way to find current problems within the area of law you are researching. Browse news sources to get ideas, then--once you have narrowed it down--sign up for news alerts on your topic so you can keep on top of developments.
Bloomberg BNA
- Bloomberg BNA Email NotificationsSign up for news alerts in 12 different areas of Health law to stay on top of your topic. Most are published weekly and cover legal and policy developments in the industry.
- Bloomberg Law Health Practice CenterIncludes federal and state legislative and regulatory tracking tools, agency materials, news and analysis, and BNA portfolios, manuals, books and treatises.
Commercial Databases
There are Medical and Health-related practice area concentrations in all three of the major commercial databases available to you. These are an excellent place to look over available treatises, find current news stories, and then locate the regulations or statutes that are being discussed.
- WestlawNext Practitioner Insights for HealthSign into WestlawNext and select "Practice Areas" under the Browse menu. When you select "Health Law" you will be directed to the Practitioner Insights for Health, where you can browse cases, statutes, secondary sources, and get health-related news from Reuters.
- Bloomberg Law Health Practice CenterThis is an excellent resource for all aspects of your research. You can sign up for news alerts, look at current events, locate current statutes and regulations, and browse through many BNA-prepared portfolios, manuals, and reports on sub-topics within Health law.
- Lexis Advance Healthcare LawOnce logged in, select the "Browse" button at the top and navigate to Topics->Healthcare Law. From there you can select a narrowers topic to browse within Health law or set up an alert for a specific subject.
News Articles/Current Awareness in Bioethics
The following organizations have current bioethics/health specific news on their websites:
- Bioethics.netNews and publication information for the American Journal of Bioethics, AJOB Neuroscience, and AJOB Empirical Bioethics.
- Bioethics BulletinBlog on Bioethics issues from the Phoebe R. Berman Bioethics Institute at the John Hopkins University.
- GenethicsNews aggregator from a Canadian professor of Bioethics at the School of Public Health at the Université de Montréal ad a fellow at the University of Ottawa. Includes many links to topic-specific organizations, case studies, and literature.
- American Medical NewsAmerican Medical Association publication of health news in the United States.
- AP Health NewsAssociated Press landing page for Health-related news.
- Health News (CNN)CNN's landing page for Health-specific news.
- BioEdgeBioEdge is a weekly newsletter about cutting-edge bioethical issues. Based in the Southern Hemisphere but speaking to the world, BioEdge is completely independent. It is designed and maintained by volunteers and financed by supporters and contributors.
Practice Manuals
Don't forget the manuals and ethics codes of the various medical, legal, and scientific organizations that have stakes in Bioethics.