LibGuides: Health Law Legal Research: Federal

Federal Statutes

Health Law Statutes and Court Rules
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Searches the three sections of the U.S.C.A. that apply to health law issues (Title 21 - Food & Drugs, Title 24 - Hospitals & Asylums, and Title 42 - The Public Health & Welfare). State health law sections are also searchable.
Health Care Law Sourcebook
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A collection of federal laws, regulations and documents related to healthcare law, including Medicare, Medicaid, patient confidentiality and non-discrimination, drugs and devices, antitrust and trade regulation, occupational safety, and disease control.
USCS - Health - Titles 15, 21, 24, and 42
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Contains the U.S. Code sections for Commerce and Trade, Food and Drugs, Hospitals and Asylums, and Public Health and Welfare.

Federal Cases

Americans with Disabilities Act - Federal Court Cases
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Contains federal court opinions relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.

Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg BNA each have several specialized databases that search subsets of case law related to health care.

BNA Americans with Disabilities Cases
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Contains complete full-text coverage of cases arising under and related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including all cases decided under the ADA, plus significant employment law cases decided under the Rehabilitation Act and related state disabilities laws.
Federal Cases - Medical Malpractice
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Medical malpractice cases from a variety of federal courts--coverage varies by court.
Federal Health Cases
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Selected federal health cases from the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal, and all United States District Courts.
Federal Health Law - Cases (FHTH-CS)
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Cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, courts of appeals, district courts, bankruptcy courts, Court of Federal Claims, Tax Court, military courts, and related federal and territorial courts that relate to the provision of wellness services and regulation of health care institutions. Coverage begins with 1789.
Insurance Law Reports: Life, Health & Accident Cases (CCH-INSLRLHA)
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The CCH-INSLRLHA database contains the full text from Insurance Law Reports: Life, Health & Accident, published by CCH in loose leaf print volumes and also available via the internet and CCH CD-ROM. Each document is a case which involves life, health, or accident insurance policies. Topics include accident and accidental death, cancer, disability, employee welfare benefit, ERISA-based, general health, individual life, group life, key life, and Medicare.
National Disability Law Reporter (NDLRPTR)
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Includes federal and state court decisions as well as federal administrative rulings addressing health care as well as accessibility, guardianship, housing, employment, and commitment issues for people with disabilities. 1990-present.
Vaccine Injury Cases (VACCINE-CS)
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Cases from the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and Court of Federal claims relating to the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.
WestlawNext Health Law Cases
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Cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, courts of appeals, district courts, bankruptcy courts, Court of Federal Claims, Tax Court, military courts, and related federal and territorial courts that relate to the provision of wellness services and regulation of health care institutions. Coverage begins with 1789.

Regulations

Federal regulations are first printed in the Federal Register (FR) and then codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), organized by topic. Both the FR and the CFR should be searched because new and updated regulations can take a few weeks to appear in the CFR. As well, the FR contains agency explanations for regulatory decisions and proposed rules that do not appear in the CFR.

Federal Register
This government website provides an easy to use version of the Federal Register. Each issue can be browsed and searched by type of notice, relevant agency, topic, and date. As well, the Unified Agendas for agencies can be browsed and searched. There is also a database of Executive Orders, and the site provides a lot of information explaining the rule-making process.
Regulations.gov
Regulations.gov allows you to access new Rules and Notices from the Federal Register, as well as to comment on Proposed Rules. It also includes the Regulatory Agendas of each Federal agency (the lists of regulations that they plan to make). It can be searched by keyword, title, or document ID number.
e-CFR
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e-CFR is an currently up-to-date version of the Code of Federal Regulations. It is updated daily with new rules from the Federal Register. However, it is not considered an official legal edition of the CFR (see govinfo below). It can be browsed by title as well as searched using the links on the left of the screen.
Federal Register and CFR - Health Related Title and Documents
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Contains a selection of CFR sections relevant to health care law: Title 15. Commerce and Foreign Trade, Title 20. Employee's Benefits, Title 21. Food and Drugs, Title 29. Labor, Title 42. Public Health, and Title 45. Public Welfare. Also contains Federal Register documents related to health law from 1980-present.
Federal Health Law - Federal Register (FHTH-FR)
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Documents from the Federal Register that relate to the provision of wellness services and regulation of health care institutions. Coverage begins with January 1981.
Federal Health Law - Code of Federal Regulations (FHTH-CFR)
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Documents from the Code of Federal Regulations that relate to the provision of wellness services and regulation of health care institutions.