Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Forthcoming Work
Abstract
Some lawyers practice “wellness law” without knowing what it is and how it differs from more recognized fields of practice such as health law, public health law, and medical malpractice. This article defines the field of wellness law using in a prescriptive manner the organizational framework that identifies the common and distinctive patterns in wellness and the law that surrounds it. This examination entails reviewing statutes and cases that differentiate between conventional health care and products or services outside of it to identify the core problems that are common and unique to wellness law. Those core problems are twofold. First, whether an imminent disease or illness is at issue when the consumer seeks to improve their wellbeing. If so, then it is not wellness the consumer seeks but health care. Second, whether the individual’s choice to engage in wellness activities is undermined by an intervening authority or situational circumstance. If so, then it is not wellness. Wellness is premised on an empowered individual seeking self-actualization, not a vulnerable patient under threat by illness or injury. The policy trade-offs, values, and interests present in these core wellness law problems involve balancing autonomous striving to self-actualization with paternalistic responses to protect or advance individual health and safety. Defining wellness law gives the field coherence and offers a guide for courts and legislatures when confronted with a wellness law problem. It also encourages legal scholars to further demarcate the area of wellness law as a field with distinct practical and regulatory issues.
Publication Title
Hofstra Law Review
Recommended Citation
Barbara Zabawa,
Defining the Field of Wellness Law,
Hofstra Law Review
(2025).
Available at:
https://irlaw.umkc.edu/faculty_works/988