Professor of Health Services, Emerita
UCLA School of Public Health
Department of Health Services
Box 951772
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
(310) 825-6958
Fax: (310) 825-3317

Ruth Roemer is Adjunct Professor Emerita. She teaches the basic course in health law -- Law, Social Change, and Health Service Policy -- and co-teaches Ethical Issues in Public Health. She received the JD degree from the Cornell Law School in 1939. Dr. Roemer has specialized in health law and legislation. Her research has involved studies of mental hospital admission law, education and legal regulation of health personnel, laws governing abortion and family planning, organization of health services, and legislation for tobacco control. She has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization on health legislation in different countries concerning uses of fluorides for dental health, adolescent fertility, primary health care, regulation of nurses and other health personnel, and tobacco control. Dr. Roemer is the author of about 40 monographs and articles in professional journals. She is senior author of a book on the fragmentation of health services in the United States, Planning Urban Health Services - from Jungle to System (1975); editor, with George McKray, of Legal Aspects of Health Policy -- Issues and Trends (1980); and author of a monograph published by the World Health Organization, Legislative Action to Combat the World Tobacco Epidemic, 2nd edition (1993).

Selected Publications

Planning Urban Health Services -- From Jungle to System by Ruth Roemer, Charles Kramer, and Jeanne E. Frink, Springer Publishing Co., N.Y., 344 pp., 1975.

Legal Aspects of Health Policy: Issues and Trends (Ruth Roemer and George McKray, Eds.), Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1980.

Private Management of Public Hospitals: The California Experience, by William Shonick and Ruth Roemer, Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1983.

Legislative Action to Combat the World Tobacco Epidemic, 2d ed., World Organization, Geneva 1993.

International Strategy for Tobacco Control, by Allyn L. Taylor and Ruth Roemer. Programme on Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1996.

"The Continuing Issue of Medical Malpractice Liability." In Changing the U.S. Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services, Policy, and Management. Ronald M. Andersen, Thomas H. Rice, and Gerald F. Kominski, Eds. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, CA, 1996, pp. 382-412.

"Comparative National Public Health Legislation." In Oxford Textbook of Public Health, 3rd edition, vol. 1, pp. 351-369. Oxford University Press, New York, 1997.