Jessica Schidlow, a 3L, received a Law Student Writing Competition award from The National Law Review for her article, “Prescribing Politics: A Call for Stronger First Amendment Protection of Physician-Patient Communications from State Interference in the Practice of Medicine.”

The article explores a trend in some states towards greater regulation of physician-patient communications, examining laws such as abortion consent, forced reporting of prenatal substance abuse, medical gag rules and limitations on physician communications regarding gun ownership.

“Often the laws that seek to direct physician-patient dialogue are adopted under the pretense of public health,” Schidlow wrote. “Yet many of these speech-regulatory provisions contradict the evidence-based practices espoused by the medical community and, in fact, thwart the efforts of the well-suited professionals who serve the populations most frequently targeted by the laws’ negative effects.”

Schidlow, who holds a master’s degree in Professional Clinical and Counseling Psychology from La Salle University, has worked as an outpatient child and family therapist.