J Law Med Ethics. 2014 Dec;42(4):535-49. doi: 10.1111/jlme.12174.

Upstream health law.

Sage WM1, McIlhattan K.

Author information

• 1Physician and attorney, holds the James R. Dougherty Chair in law at the University of Texas.

Abstract

For the first time, entrepreneurs are aggressively developing new technologies and business models designed to improve individual and population health, not just to deliver specialized medical care. Consumers of these goods and services are not yet "patients"; they are simply people. As this sector of the health care industry expands, it is likely to require new forms of legal governance, which we term "upstream health law."