The enactment of laws and ordinances and their regulation by official organs of a nation, state, or other legislative organization. It refers also to health-related laws and regulations in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Laws and regulations, pertaining to the field of medicine, proposed for enactment or enacted by a legislative body.

Laws concerned with manufacturing, dispensing, and marketing of drugs.

An area of recreation or hygiene for use by the public.

Laws and regulations concerned with industrial processing and marketing of foods.

Exercise of governmental authority to control conduct.

Contamination of the air by tobacco smoke.

Personal devices for protection of heads from impact, penetration from falling and flying objects, and from limited electric shock and burn.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

Prohibition against tobacco smoking in specific areas to control TOBACCO SMOKE POLLUTION.

A process whereby representatives of a particular interest group attempt to influence governmental decision makers to accept the policy desires of the lobbying organization.

Laws and regulations pertaining to the field of dentistry, proposed for enactment or recently enacted by a legislative body.

The level of governmental organization and function below that of the national or country-wide government.

The collective designation of three organizations with common membership: the European Economic Community (Common Market), the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). It was known as the European Community until 1994. It is primarily an economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. Professional services, social, medical and paramedical, are subsumed under labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997, p842)

Laws and regulations, pertaining to the field of pharmacy, proposed for enactment or enacted by a legislative body.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

The aggregate business enterprise of agriculture, manufacture, and distribution related to tobacco and tobacco-derived products.

Containers, packaging, and packaging materials for drugs and BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS. These include those in ampule, capsule, tablet, solution or other forms. Packaging includes immediate-containers, secondary-containers, and cartons. In the United States, such packaging is controlled under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which also stipulates requirements for tamper-resistance and child-resistance. Similar laws govern use elsewhere. (From Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 1 Section 210, 1993) DRUG LABELING is also available.

Laws and regulations, pertaining to the field of veterinary medicine, proposed for enactment or enacted by a legislative body.

Legal guarantee protecting the individual from attack on personal liberties, right to fair trial, right to vote, and freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. (from http://www.usccr.gov/ accessed 1/31/2003)

Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.

The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

Laws and regulations concerning hospitals, which are proposed for enactment or enacted by a legislative body.

Organized efforts to insure obedience to the laws of a community.

The complex of political institutions, laws, and customs through which the function of governing is carried out in a specific political unit.

Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning TOBACCO.

Restraining belts fastened to the frame of automobiles, aircraft, or other vehicles, and strapped around the person occupying the seat in the car or plane, intended to prevent the person from being thrown forward or out of the vehicle in case of sudden deceleration.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

The contamination of indoor air.

Place or physical location of work or employment.

The killing of infants at birth or soon after.

Laws and regulations, pertaining to the field of nursing, proposed for enactment by a legislative body.

Legal process required for the institutionalization of a patient with severe mental problems.

Activity involved in transfer of goods from producer to consumer or in the exchange of services.

The level of governmental organization and function at the national or country-wide level.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Programs in which participation is required.

Fundamental claims of patients, as expressed in statutes, declarations, or generally accepted moral principles. (Bioethics Thesaurus) The term is used for discussions of patient rights as a group of many rights, as in a hospital's posting of a list of patient rights.

Control which is exerted by the more stable organizations of society, such as established institutions and the law. They are ordinarily embodied in definite codes, usually written.

The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)

The rights of the individual to cultural, social, economic, and educational opportunities as provided by society, e.g., right to work, right to education, and right to social security.

The right of the patient or the patient's representative to make decisions with regard to the patient's dying.

The use of a bicycle for transportation or recreation. It does not include the use of a bicycle in studying the body's response to physical exertion (BICYCLE ERGOMETRY TEST see EXERCISE TEST).

Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles.

The attitude of a significant portion of a population toward any given proposition, based upon a measurable amount of factual evidence, and involving some degree of reflection, analysis, and reasoning.

The privacy of information and its protection against unauthorized disclosure.

Procedures, such as TISSUE CULTURE TECHNIQUES; mathematical models; etc., when used or advocated for use in place of the use of animals in research or diagnostic laboratories.

Efforts and designs to reduce the incidence of unexpected undesirable events in various environments and situations.

The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.

The act or practice of calling public attention to a product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers, magazines, on radio, or on television. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Legal documents that are declarations of individuals' wishes regarding the disposal of their property or estate after death; esp: written instruments, legally executed, by which dispositions are made of estates. LIVING WILLS are written declarations regarding prolongation of life by extraordinary means.

Exclusive legal rights or privileges applied to inventions, plants, etc.

The state of being free from intrusion or disturbance in one's private life or affairs. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, 1993)

An international organization whose members include most of the sovereign nations of the world with headquarters in New York City. The primary objectives of the organization are to maintain peace and security and to achieve international cooperation in solving international economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian problems.

Formal voluntary or governmental procedures and standards required of hospitals and health or other facilities to improve operating efficiency, and for the protection of the consumer.

Control of drug and narcotic use by international agreement, or by institutional systems for handling prescribed drugs. This includes regulations concerned with the manufacturing, dispensing, approval (DRUG APPROVAL), and marketing of drugs.

That segment of commercial enterprise devoted to the design, development, and manufacture of chemical products for use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, disability, or other dysfunction, or to improve function.

Property, such as patents, trademarks, and copyright, that results from creative effort. The Patent and Copyright Clause (Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 8) of the United States Constitution provides for promoting the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed, p1014)

The rights of women to equal status pertaining to social, economic, and educational opportunities afforded by society.

The kind of action or activity proper to the judiciary, particularly its responsibility for decision making.

Governmental levies on property, inheritance, gifts, etc.

Two-wheeled, engine-driven vehicles.

Active euthanasia of a patient at the patient's request and/or with the patient's consent.

A legal concept that an accused is not criminally responsible if, at the time of committing the act, the person was laboring under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind as not to know the nature and quality of the act done or if the act was known, to not have known that what was done was wrong. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed)

The N-glucuronide conjugate of cotinine is a major urinary metabolite of NICOTINE. It thus serves as a biomarker of exposure to tobacco SMOKING. It has CNS stimulating properties.

The science or philosophy of law. Also, the application of the principles of law and justice to health and medicine.

The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.

Human artificial insemination in which the semen used is that of a man other than the woman's husband.

The application of current standards of morality to past actions, institutions, or persons.

The effect of environmental or physiological factors on the driver and driving ability. Included are driving fatigue, and the effect of drugs, disease, and physical disabilities on driving.

The moral and ethical bases of the protection of animals from cruelty and abuse. The rights are extended to domestic animals, laboratory animals, and wild animals.

The legal authority or formal permission from authorities to carry on certain activities which by law or regulation require such permission. It may be applied to licensure of institutions as well as individuals.

Insurance providing benefits to cover part or all of the psychiatric care.

A person who has not attained the age at which full civil rights are accorded.

Interference with the FREEDOM or PERSONAL AUTONOMY of another person, with justifications referring to the promotion of the person's good or the prevention of harm to the person. (from Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995); more generally, not allowing a person to make decisions on his or her own behalf.

The protection of animals in laboratories or other specific environments by promoting their health through better nutrition, housing, and care.

Traumatic injuries involving the cranium and intracranial structures (i.e., BRAIN; CRANIAL NERVES; MENINGES; and other structures). Injuries may be classified by whether or not the skull is penetrated (i.e., penetrating vs. nonpenetrating) or whether there is an associated hemorrhage.

Failing to prevent death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy by the withdrawal or withholding of life-prolonging treatment.

The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.

Promotion and protection of the rights of children; frequently through a legal process.

Experimentation on, or using the organs or tissues from, a human or other mammalian conceptus during the prenatal stage of development that is characterized by rapid morphological changes and the differentiation of basic structures. In humans, this includes the period from the time of fertilization to the end of the eighth week after fertilization.

Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.

The administrative procedures involved with acquiring TISSUES or organs for TRANSPLANTATION through various programs, systems, or organizations. These procedures include obtaining consent from TISSUE DONORS and arranging for transportation of donated tissues and organs, after TISSUE HARVESTING, to HOSPITALS for processing and transplantation.

The use of animals as investigational subjects.

A course or method of action selected to guide and determine present and future decisions.

The act or practice of killing for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person or animal from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

Voluntary authorization, by a patient or research subject, with full comprehension of the risks involved, for diagnostic or investigative procedures, and for medical and surgical treatment.

Payment, or other means of making amends, for a wrong or injury.

Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. An ethical principle holds that the autonomy of persons ought to be respected. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Revealing of information, by oral or written communication.

The ability to understand the nature and effect of the act in which the individual is engaged. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed).

A legal requirement that designated types of information acquired by professionals or institutions in the course of their work be reported to appropriate authorities.

Conception after the death of the male or female biological parent through techniques such as the use of gametes that have been stored during his or her lifetime or that were collected immediately after his or her death.

The promotion and support of consumers' rights and interests.

Small-arms weapons, including handguns, pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, etc.

The rights of individuals to act and make decisions without external constraints.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a product or its container or wrapper. It includes purpose, effect, description, directions, hazards, warnings, and other relevant information.

The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.

Provision (by a physician or other health professional, or by a family member or friend) of support and/or means that gives a patient the power to terminate his or her own life. (from APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed).

Production of drugs or biologicals which are unlikely to be manufactured by private industry unless special incentives are provided by others.

Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property.

Psychiatry in its legal aspects. This includes criminology, penology, commitment of mentally ill, the psychiatrist's role in compensation cases, the problems of releasing information to the court, and of expert testimony.

Accountability and responsibility to another, enforceable by civil or criminal sanctions.

The interaction of persons or groups of persons representing various nations in the pursuit of a common goal or interest.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

A large group of diseases which are characterized by a low prevalence in the population. They frequently are associated with problems in diagnosis and treatment.

Women who allow themselves to be impregnated with the understanding that the offspring are to be given over to the parents who have commissioned the surrogate.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance.

Drugs manufactured and sold with the intent to misrepresent its origin, authenticity, chemical composition, and or efficacy. Counterfeit drugs may contain inappropriate quantities of ingredients not listed on the label or package. In order to further deceive the consumer, the packaging, container, or labeling, may be inaccurate, incorrect, or fake.

Withholding or withdrawal of a particular treatment or treatments, often (but not necessarily) life-prolonging treatment, from a patient or from a research subject as part of a research protocol. The concept is differentiated from REFUSAL TO TREAT, where the emphasis is on the health professional's or health facility's refusal to treat a patient or group of patients when the patient or the patient's representative requests treatment. Withholding of life-prolonging treatment is usually indexed only with EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE, unless the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment, or the issue of withholding palliative rather than curative treatment, is discussed.

Written, witnessed declarations in which persons request that if they become disabled beyond reasonable expectation of recovery, they be allowed to die rather than be kept alive by extraordinary means. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Informed consent given by a parent on behalf of a minor or otherwise incompetent child.

An institutional policy of granting authority to health personnel to perform procedures on patients or to remove organs from cadavers for transplantation unless an objection is registered by family members or by the patient prior to death. This also includes emergency care of minors without prior parental consent.

Transfer of preovulatory oocytes from donor to a suitable host. Oocytes are collected, fertilized in vitro, and transferred to a host that can be human or animal.

The quality or state of relating to or affecting two or more nations. (After Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed)

Any enterprise centered on the processing, assembly, production, or marketing of a line of products, services, commodities, or merchandise, in a particular field often named after its principal product. Examples include the automobile, fishing, music, publishing, insurance, and textile industries.

Organizations comprising wage and salary workers in health-related fields for the purpose of improving their status and conditions. The concept includes labor union activities toward providing health services to members.

The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents that occurs as a result of one's occupation.

Contamination of the air, bodies of water, or land with substances that are harmful to human health and the environment.

An oath, attributed to Hippocrates, that serves as an ethical guide for the medical profession.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a food or its container or wrapper. The concept includes ingredients, NUTRITIONAL VALUE, directions, warnings, and other relevant information.

Tissue, organ, or gamete donation intended for a designated recipient.

International organizations which provide health-related or other cooperative services.

Accidental or deliberate use of a medication or street drug in excess of normal dosage.

The moral obligations governing the conduct of research. Used for discussions of research ethics as a general topic.

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

A systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. The text may be cursive or in outline form but is generally a comprehensive guide to problems and approaches in any field of activity. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available.

The geographic area of Latin America in general and when the specific country or countries are not indicated. It usually includes Central America, South America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean.

Guideline for determining when it is morally permissible to perform an action to pursue a good end with knowledge that the action will also bring about bad results. It generally states that, in cases where a contemplated action has such double effect, the action is permissible only if: it is not wrong in itself; the bad result is not intended; the good result is not a direct causal result of the bad result; and the good result is "proportionate to" the bad result. (from Solomon, "Double Effect," in Becker, The Encyclopedia of Ethics, 1992)

Economic aspects related to the management and operation of a hospital.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

Laws and regulations pertaining to devices used in medicine, proposed for enactment, or enacted by a legislative body.

Generally refers to the amount of protection available and the kind of loss which would be paid for under an insurance contract with an insurer. (Slee & Slee, Health Care Terms, 2d ed)

Damage inflicted on the body as the direct or indirect result of an external force, with or without disruption of structural continuity.

A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.

The protection of genetic information about an individual, family, or population group, from unauthorized disclosure.

Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.

Organized efforts by communities or organizations to improve the health and well-being of the child.

Organized services to provide mental health care.

Decisions for determining and guiding present and future objectives from among alternatives.

The provision of monetary resources including money or capital and credit; obtaining or furnishing money or capital for a purchase or enterprise and the funds so obtained. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed.)

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

The area that lies between continental North and South America and comprises the Caribbean Sea, the West Indies, and the adjacent mainland regions of southern Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Time period from 2001 through 2100 of the common era.

The care provided to women and their NEWBORNS for the first few months following CHILDBIRTH.

Centers for acquiring and storing semen.

The interrelationship of medicine and religion.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

Termination of pregnancy under conditions allowed under local laws. (POPLINE Thesaurus, 1991)

The killing of animals for reasons of mercy, to control disease transmission or maintain the health of animal populations, or for experimental purposes (ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION).

That distinct portion of the institutional, industrial, or economic structure of a country that is controlled or owned by non-governmental, private interests.

Elements, compounds, mixtures, or solutions that are considered severely harmful to human health and the environment. They include substances that are toxic, corrosive, flammable, or explosive.

Use of marketing principles also used to sell products to consumers to promote ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Design and use of programs seeking to increase the acceptance of a social idea or practice by target groups, not for the benefit of the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society.

An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of objects, not as they are but as they are conceived to be.

Drugs considered essential to meet the health needs of a population as well as to control drug costs.

Standards of conduct that distinguish right from wrong.

Promotion and protection of the rights of patients, frequently through a legal process.

Payment by a third-party payer in a sum equal to the amount expended by a health care provider or facility for health services rendered to an insured or program beneficiary. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

Individuals supplying living tissue, organs, cells, blood or blood components for transfer or transplantation to histocompatible recipients.

Medicines that can be sold legally without a DRUG PRESCRIPTION.

The industry concerned with processing, preparing, preserving, distributing, and serving of foods and beverages.

The effort of two or more parties to secure the business of a third party by offering, usually under fair or equitable rules of business practice, the most favorable terms.

Insurance coverage providing compensation and medical benefits to individuals because of work-connected injuries or disease.

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Clinical and laboratory techniques used to enhance fertility in humans and animals.

Payments or services provided under stated circumstances under the terms of an insurance policy. In prepayment programs, benefits are the services the programs will provide at defined locations and to the extent needed.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.

The smallest continent and an independent country, comprising six states and two territories. Its capital is Canberra.

An interactive process whereby members of a community are concerned for the equality and rights of all.

A preconceived judgment made without factual basis.

Protective measures against unauthorized access to or interference with computer operating systems, telecommunications, or data structures, especially the modification, deletion, destruction, or release of data in computers. It includes methods of forestalling interference by computer viruses or so-called computer hackers aiming to compromise stored data.

Declarations by patients, made in advance of a situation in which they may be incompetent to decide about their own care, stating their treatment preferences or authorizing a third party to make decisions for them. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Persons with psychiatric illnesses or diseases, particularly psychotic and severe mood disorders.

Devices used to protect and restrain infant and child automotive passengers.

Groups set up to advise governmental bodies, societies, or other institutions on policy. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Application of marketing principles and techniques to maximize the use of health care resources.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

A state of prolonged irreversible cessation of all brain activity, including lower brain stem function with the complete absence of voluntary movements, responses to stimuli, brain stem reflexes, and spontaneous respirations. Reversible conditions which mimic this clinical state (e.g., sedative overdose, hypothermia, etc.) are excluded prior to making the determination of brain death. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp348-9)

Discontinuation of the habit of smoking, the inhaling and exhaling of tobacco smoke.

Health insurance plans for employees, and generally including their dependents, usually on a cost-sharing basis with the employer paying a percentage of the premium.

Health insurance coverage for all persons in a state or country, rather than for some subset of the population. It may extend to the unemployed as well as to the employed; to aliens as well as to citizens; for pre-existing conditions as well as for current illnesses; for mental as well as for physical conditions.

Administrative units of government responsible for policy making and management of governmental activities.

Abortion induced to save the life or health of a pregnant woman. (From Dorland, 28th ed)

Relations of an individual, association, organization, hospital, or corporation with the publics which it must take into consideration in carrying out its functions. Publics may include consumers, patients, pressure groups, departments, etc.