The third annual PHAI conference, “Legal Approaches to the Obesity Epidemic,” was held in September at the School of Law. Participants explored the different legal strategies that can be implemented to combat obesity in children.

PHOTO: DAVID LEIFER

From Burgers to Bust-ups

The principal mission of PHAI is to increase the effectiveness of efforts by the world of law to help achieve public health goals. To that end, PHAI is tackling another critical public health issue: motor vehicle safety. This fall, PHAI introduced a new Internet resource for researchers, students, consumers and policymakers concerned with motor vehicle crashes and crash injuries. AutoHazardsInfo at www.autohazardsinfo.org is the Web site of PHAI’s Motor Vehicle Hazards Archives Project, made possible by a grant from the Santos Family Foundation. The site offers a range of historical and current information about efforts to reduce the human harm caused by highway crashes.

According to the project’s director, Ben Kelley, motor vehicle crash injury prevention is a prime example of public health needs that require legal interventions in the legislative, regulatory and judicial arenas, making it a perfect match for PHAI.

Winter 2006 | Newsbriefs

No More Sucking

When Professor Richard Daynard took on the tobacco industry more than 20 years ago, everyone thought he was crazy. Then, a few years ago, he joined with fellow faculty members Wendy Parmet and Dan Givelber and colleagues at Tufts University School of Medicine, to found the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI). Soon, they set their sights on the national obesity problem, and Daynard began to explore the possibilities of using strategic litigation against the junk food industry. Now, Daynard is on the move again, with a class-action suit arguing that soft drink companies are selling soda to kids in schools even though they know it’s harmful to their health. Is Daynard just plain kooky or can we really blame Coke for contributing to the childhood obesity problem?

Daynard argues that soda manufacturers, like their tobacco counterparts, knew the damage their products could do and sold them anyway. He refers to medical studies showing that for every can of soda a kid drinks daily, his or her chance of being overweight or obese increases by 60 percent. Other studies tie consumption of soda to a host of childhood ills besides obesity, including tooth decay and Type 2 diabetes — known as adult-onset until the 1990s, when it started to become commonplace in children. Daynard also argues that kids in schools are a captive audience and that soda makers use false advertising to paint their products as benign. Thus, the soda companies can be sued under the state’s consumer protection statute, which outlaws “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” Plaintiffs may also claim that soda is an “attractive nuisance,” a dangerous item put within children’s reach without adequate safeguards.

In October, The Boston Globe Magazine devoted a feature article, “Hard on Soft Drinks,” to Daynard’s efforts. Scores of articles in national newspapers and magazines followed.

“We’ve been selling soda for 125 years, and, gee, all of a sudden we’re the reason for childhood obesity,” Ralph Crowley, chairman of the American Beverage Association, told the Globe, saying too much television and not enough exercise are the real culprits.

“Soda machines have no more place in schools than cigarette machines,” retorted Daynard.

Domestic Violence Institute Expands BMC Project

The law school’s Domestic Violence Institute (DVI) expanded its multidisciplinary volunteer project in the Emergency Department of Boston Medical Center this fall to cover five weekday and weekend nights. More than 40 students are involved from five Boston area law schools; the majority are first-year students at Northeastern. The students are conducting wide-ranging interviews with patients, collecting narratives of community experiences with violence, and moving through a structured domestic violence training program.

“This is the largest program we have run since DVI began this collaboration with the Boston Medical Center in 1993. We are delighted to have so many dedicated students, both as interviewer advocates and as essential team leaders. Kathy Garren [’03], DVI’s clinical fellow, directs the program and deserves the credit for this wonderful enrollment,” said Lois Kanter, DVI’s executive director.

DVI also sponsored a highly successful conference in September, “Introduction to Legal Advocacy for Victims of Violence.” It attracted new law students and beginning community advocates as participants, and experienced service providers as speakers.

“The women and men who spoke at the conference are all terrific role models for our students. Each of the speakers has worked tirelessly to aid victims of domestic violence and their children, and DVI is both proud and grateful that they were willing to devote a Saturday in September to educating our students,” said Kanter.