Health Law in Canada Journal

Introduction

Welcome to Health Law in Canada (“HLCJ”), a successful publication that has been in existence since 1979. It is published by LexisNexis Canada Inc. and operates in partnership with the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluator (IHPME) at the University of Toronto.

Due to the evolving nature of health law in Canada, HLCJ was revamped in 2015 to target a diverse national audience. Specifically, the goals of Health Law in Canada are to:

1. increase diversity in authorship and encourage collaborations
2. encourage diverse readership across healthcare, legal and government/policy sectors
3. stimulate innovation in the health sector
4. ensure relevance to the health sector
5. include content that is current, forward thinking and that shapes the future of health law and policy in Canada

We publish articles in health, law and policy, including:

• Original peer-reviewed articles
• Commentaries
• Case comments related to law and health
• Letters to the editor
• Book reviews

With an editorial board that includes professionals from across the legal and policy sector and expert peer-reviewers with specific knowledge on healthcare issues, HLCJ will ensure that each article meets first-rate standards for publication.

Who We Are

Editorial Board Members

Gilbert Sharpe, LL.B., LL.M., Editor-in-Chief

Gilbert was the former long-time Director of the Legal Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Through his involvement with the Ministry of Health and associated work with numerous ministries and agencies of the Ontario government as well as federal departments, Gilbert has been involved continuously with important legal issues and policy matters affecting health care, including the development of legislation and policies to improve the health care system and to promote ongoing and effective exchange of information related to new initiatives. Since leaving the Ontario government, Gilbert has continued to work on numerous health law and policy matters, both in the private and public sectors. Gilbert also holds several professorships across the province, including the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

Simmie Palter, B.A., LL.B, Deputy Editor-in Chief

Simmie is a partner at NQ Law and a member of the Ontario Bar Association. Simmie advises health sector organizations about governance, data protection, data sharing, professional regulation, contracts, commercial agreements, freedom of information, clinical and records issues, substitute decision-making and risk management. Simmie develops privacy frameworks and agreements and conducts related training for a variety of clients including FIPPA institutions, community agencies and virtual care start-ups. Simmie has been in private practice since 2007 and before that was legal counsel to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Simmie is a regular speaker and writer on topics related to health and privacy and enjoys participating in teaching opportunities. Simmie is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and McGill University.

Rosario G. Cartagena, BSc., M.Sc., J.D., Past Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Rosario is the Chief Privacy and Legal Officer at ICES. In her role, Rosario provides strategic privacy advice to the organization and assists on legal issues. Previously, Rosario was a Senior Associate in the Health Law Group at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP where she provided advice on a variety of health law matters, including corporate governance, public policy, risk management, privacy, health regulatory compliance, and health research. She has also worked in the privacy and legal group at Cancer Care Ontario.
Prior to attending law school, Rosario completed a Master in Science, Public Health Sciences in population health.

Secretary, Pamela Seto

Managing Editors – Publisher and Author Liaison, Maya Kotob and Jesstina McFadden
Managing Editor – Peer Review Process, Adina Strom and Ellen Xu
Social Media Coordinator – Adina Strom
Managing Editor – Events, Maria Eugenia Brunello, Sana Ebrahimi and Sara Elcombe

Associate Editors
Diana Saturno

From time to time we may be looking for new board members. If you are interested in joining the editorial board for HLCJ please send a ‘Letter of Interest’ to hlcjsubmissions@gmail.com. We are currently looking for provincial representatives outside of Ontario. If you would like to learn more about HLCJ, we would welcome your application.

Author Submission

Our readership consists of inter-disciplinary health professionals and health lawyers in Canada and around the world. In 2017, HLCJ entered into a partnership with IHPME.

We publish original legal articles and non-analytical articles. Although we are primarily a legal publication, we encourage submissions from the non-legal healthcare community, government and corporate institutions.

Publication – Calendar

HLCJ is published 4 times a year:

• February
• May
• August
• November

Each publication contains approximately 32 pages (16,000 words).

From time to time, HLCJ may publish issues on particular subject matters that may be related to a conference or seminar. If so, a ‘Call for Submissions’ will take place and any unrelated articles will be published in a subsequent edition.

Guidelines for Submission

All manuscripts should be submitted in Word format by email to: hlcjsubmissions@gmail.com.

Required Submission

1. Abstract
2. Title of Article
3. Names, addresses, affiliations for each author, and an email address for the corresponding author
4. Author’s Bio (1 or 2 sentences)
5. A declaration of the author(s)’ competing interests (if any)
6. Acknowledgement indicating that the author(s) have not plagiarized any part of the article

1. 11.5 pt. font
2. Left justified, double-spaced paragraphs
3. Endnotes (no footnotes)
4. No more than two (2) typefaces; if those typefaces are not in the LexisNexis system, they will be substituted as follows: serif font → Times New Roman and sans serif font → Helvetica
5. Page size set to 8 ´ 11 /12 inches
6. Any tables, photographs, charts and other diagrams will be edited and formatted to conform to HLCJ and LexisNexis standards

(1) Peer-Reviewed

• Original Legal Analysis
  These articles must contain in-depth legal analysis about a particular health related issue, domestically or internationally. Articles must contain sound legal arguments with supporting analysis. Articles can be neutral and include discussion on different points of view or they can take an adversarial approach and advocate for or against a particular position.
• Original Multi-disciplinary Analysis
  These articles must contain a quasi-legal analysis in addition to a substantive analysis in a related cross-disciplinary field i.e. policy, bioethics, economics. Articles can be neutral and include discussion on different points of view or they can take an adversarial approach and advocate for or against a particular position.
• Case comments
  These articles must provide an analysis of a recently decided court decision related to health. Legal decisions with a loose affiliation to health may also be accepted. The articles should contain the facts, a brief overview of the legal proceedings, an analysis and how the decision will impact the community.

(2) Not Peer-Reviewed

• Practice-based Articles
  These articles aim to provide lawyers and non-lawyers with useful practical tips in the area of health law. They can be educational, descriptive and technical in nature, i.e. ‘how to administer a hospital effectively’, ‘how to draft data sharing agreements’, ‘how to implement electronic medical records in a clinic’.
• Current Affairs
  These articles are structured around three central areas as follows: 
1. We encourage readers to submit short commentaries on current issues. For instance, readers can provide updates on recent legislative amendments or government, hospital or corporate decisions. In addition to being factual, these submissions must also contain a short analysis of the issue and its impact. We encourage these short (500 words or less) commentaries to be provided as close to the submission deadline as possible in order to be relevant.
2. Movers and Shakers: we encourage an interesting question and answer dialogue for publication.
3. We encourage our readers to submit information regarding any upcoming events or conferences in health or law. Please keep in mind that HLCJ is published quarterly. As a result, informing us well in advance of the date is preferred. We will publish the information in the upcoming publication.

• Letters to the Editor (Opinion-Based)
  Letters or articles may be submitted in response to a recently published article in HLCJ or on general health law related matters. Letters are meant to be insightful, provide food for thought and also foster healthy debate.
• Book review
  These reviews must be based on either a new or old, but useful book that is of benefit to the community.

**Articles will not be considered if they contain language that is offensive, abusive, or that violates the rights of any third party.

Subscriptions

This unique quarterly publication focuses on how the law impinges on the day-to-day tasks of health care professionals while also exploring the controversial ethical aspects of health law. Lively dialogue ensures the reader is kept up-to-date and fully aware of all significant developments.

Health Law in Canada offers:

• Insightful articles written from a practical viewpoint by acknowledged experts in the health care and ethics fields
• Contributions from patients’ rights spokespersons and other related groups.

Health Law in Canada is available in three convenient subscription formats: Print Only, Print + PDF or PDF Only. The PDF version can be posted on your firm’s Intranet so that all staff may benefit from this information-packed newsletter. Please note that the PDF version may be used for Internal Distribution only.

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