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Forensic Epidemiology: Law at the Intersection of Public Health and Criminal Investigations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Richard A. Goodman ,
Judith W. Munson ,
Kim Dammers ,
Zita Lazzarini  and
John P. Barkley
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Extract

Since at least the mid-1970s, public health and law enforcement officials have conducted joint or parallel investigations of both health problems possibly associated with criminal intent and crimes having particular health dimensions. However, the anthrax and other terrorist attacks of fall 2001 have dramatically underscored the needs that public health and law enforcement officials have for a clear understanding of the goals and methods each discipline uses in investigating such problems, including and especially the potential use of biologic agents as weapons of mass destruction. Recognition of these needs has prompted some experts to call for the application of “forensic epidemiology” to such problems. Even before the attacks of fall 2001, other problems, such as the detection of the West Nile Virus in the United States and concerns that the emergence of this infectious agent was the consequence of a deliberate act, raised novel challenges to the combined interests of public health and criminal investigators.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , Winter 2003 , pp. 684 - 700
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2003

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