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Sharona Hoffman

Professor of Law and Bioethics, Co-Director of Law-Medicine Center, Case Western Reserve University
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About Sharona

Hoffman's research focuses on health law and civil rights. Hoffman's scholarship is wide-ranging, but its overarching themes include legal and policy implications of evolving technologies and protecting vulnerable populations in the medical and employment settings.  Hoffman's recent articles have addressed big data, specialty drugs, physician burnout, and discrimination associated with medical artificial intelligence.  Hoffman is the co-director of Case Western's Law-Medicine Center and serves on University Hospital's ethics committee.  Hoffman is a member of the Journal of Elder Policy advisory board and frequently appears in the media.

Contributions

In the News

Sharona Hoffman quoted on you don’t have to share everything and you can be vague., "Should You Talk About Your Mental Health With Your Boss?" WSJ Noted, September 14, 2020.
Sharona Hoffman quoted on just as restaurants can say “no shirt, no shoes, no service,” airlines can say you must comply with covid mandates by Catharine Hamm, "Don’t Want to Wear a Mask on the Plane? Too Bad. Airlines Now Will Require It" The Los Angeles Times, June 29, 2020.
Sharona Hoffman quoted on if the tests become more reliable, immunity passports may become reality. But it is more likely that we will have to wait until we have a vaccine. by Monica Buchanan Pitrelli, "Why ‘Immunity Passports’ Won’t Be the Golden Tickets to Travel After All" cnbc.com, June 24, 2020.
"Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns," Sharona Hoffman, The Conversation, September 4, 2019.
"Physician burnout: Why legal and regulatory systems may need to step in," Sharona Hoffman, The Conversation, June 9, 2019.

Publications

"Electronic Health Records and Medical Big Data: Law and Policy" (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Helps readers gain an in-depth understanding of electronic health record (EHR) systems, medical big data, and the regulations that govern them.  Analyzes both the shortcomings and benefits of EHR systems, exploring the law's response to the creation of these systems, highlighting gaps in the current legal framework, and developing detailed recommendations for regulatory, policy, and technological improvements.

"Healing the Healers: Legal Remedies for Physician Burnout " Yale Journal of Health, Policy, Law and Ethics 18, no. 2 (2019): 56-113.

Examines physician burnout, which is an acute concern in the medical community, with almost half of doctors reporting that they suffer from it, and it is a public health threat. Argues that the problem deserves and requires legal attention because burnout is often related to onerous health care regulations and because the government traditionally oversees and protects the health and well-being of the American workforce.

"Artificial Intelligence and Discrimination in Health Care,"

Analyzes the concept of algorithmic discrimination in medicine and argues that such discrimination can violate civil rights laws such as Title VI and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act . Urges that algorithmic fairness constitute a key element in designing, implementing, and validating AI and that both legal and technical tools be deployed to promote fairness.

, Forthcoming.
"Aging With a Plan " (Library of Congress, 2015).

Offers a concise, comprehensive resource for middle-aged readers who are facing the prospects of their own aging and of caring for elderly relatives―an often overwhelming task for which little in life prepares us.
 

"What Genetic Testing Teaches About Predictive Health Analytics" North Carolina Law Review 98, no. 1 (2019).

Compares the robust academic and policy debates and legal interventions that followed the emergence of genetic testing to the relatively anemic reaction to predictions produced by artificial intelligence.  Argues that like genetic testing, predictive health analytics raise significant concerns about psychological harm, privacy breaches, discrimination, and the meaning and accuracy of predictions.

"Specialty Drugs and the Health Care Cost Crisis" (with Isaac Buck). 55 Wake Forest Law Review (2020): 55-88.

Discusses how specialty drugs, often dispensed by specialty pharmacies, are among the most expensive drugs on the market. Analyzes specialty drugs from a legal and policy perspective and formulates recommendations for regulatory interventions that are necessary to safeguard the welfare of specialty drug consumers.