UH Vaccine Law Expert Brian Abramson Discusses Evolving U.S. Immunization Policy
July 7, 2026 - University of Houston Law Center students heard firsthand from one of the nation's leading vaccine law scholars recently during the Health Law & Policy Institute's spring presentation, Changing Federal Approaches to Vaccines.
Brian Dean Abramson, an adjunct professor at UH Law and author of the widely used textbook Vaccine, Vaccination, and Immunization Law, examined how recent federal policy changes, varied state approaches to vaccine requirements and exemptions, and shifting legal frameworks are reshaping public health and healthcare law.
"Vaccine law connects to a lot of different areas of law," Abramson said, citing federal regulation, constitutional rights, medical responsibility, ethics, international agreements and misinformation. "At every level, we're seeing shifts."
Abramson explained that vaccine law has long sought to balance public health protections with legal mechanisms designed to compensate individuals who claim vaccine-related injuries while supporting a stable vaccine supply. He noted that today's legal and political debates are testing that framework in new ways.
Drawing on decades of scholarship and practice, Abramson discussed recent changes in federal vaccine policy, advisory processes, and regulatory priorities, as well as the potential implications for public health, insurance coverage, legal accountability, and biomedical innovation.
Despite the policy debates, Abramson emphasized that the science behind vaccines remains unchanged.
"We're trying to prevent people from dying from contagious diseases that have some very terrible effects that have kind of long been forgotten because we've been so successful about it," he said. "We have as a society forgotten how bad these diseases are."
Abramson concluded by encouraging students to think critically about the legal challenges that will shape future responses to infectious disease outbreaks and the important role lawyers will play in balancing public health, individual rights, and government authority.
