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Michael H. Cohen, Esq.

Michael H. Cohen is a thought leader in health care law, pioneering legal strategies and solutions for clients in traditional and emerging healthcare markets.

He represents a broad range of healthcare providers, including medical and osteopathic doctors; psychologists, nurses, dentists and other allied health professionals; and complementary and alternative medicine practitioners such as chiropractors, acupuncturists, and massage therapists. His clients include clinical care facilities, dietary supplement companies, healthcare educational institutions, health insurance organizations, medical spas, medical device makers, telemedicine providers, and entrepreneurs in the health, wellness, and lifestyle industries.

Clients nationwide seek Mr. Cohen's advice on business structure and entity formation; credentialing, licensing, and scope of practice concerns; professional disciplinary matters; employment contracts; informed consent and malpractice liability issues; HIPAA and other regulatory compliance; Stark, self-referral, anti-kickback, patient brokering, and fee-splitting questions; dietary supplement labeling; medical device and other FDA matters; website disclaimers and review of marketing materials; and other advice. Mr. Cohen is also highly sought after for special legal counsel by other attorneys and law firms in the areas of complementary/integrative medicine and aesthetic/cosmetic medicine.

Mr. Cohen graduated from Columbia University (B.A.); Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley (J.D.); the Haas School of Management at the University of California, Berkeley (M.B.A.); and the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa (M.F.A.). In law school, he served as an editor of the California Law Review. He also attended the Medical Institute for Law Faculty at the Cleveland Clinic. Following law school, he served as judicial clerk for the Honorable Thomas P. Griesa, United States District Judge in the federal Southern District of New York.

Mr. Cohen was an associate in the Corporate Department at Davis Polk & Wardwell, focusing on banking, securities law, and mergers & acquisitions. He then was on the faculty of several law schools, teaching civil procedure, conflicts of laws, constitutional law, criminal law, health law, and insurance law. From 2000-2005, he served as Director of Legal Programs at the Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), and then the Harvard Medical School Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies and Harvard Medical School Osher Institute. He was also Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, with a joint appointment as Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health.

While at Harvard, Mr. Cohen was Principal Investigator on two grants, Legal and Social Barriers to Alternative Therapies (National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health) and Pediatric Use of Complementary Therapies by Parents: Ethical and Policy Choices (Greenwall Foundation), and Co-Investigator on several other funded projects, including Models of Integrative Care in an Academic Health Center. Among his activities, Mr. Cohen pioneered the course, "Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Health Law and Policy" at the Harvard School of Public Health. He also was awarded a Fortieth Anniversary Senior Fellowship at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School.

Mr. Cohen has published over 100 articles, and books, including: Creative Writing for Lawyers (Citadel Press, 1990); Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Beyond Complementary Medicine: Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Health Care and Human Evolution (University of Michigan Press, 2000); Future Medicine: Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health and Healing in Human Transformation (University of Michigan Press, 2003); Legal Issues in Integrative Medicine (NAF Press, 2005); and Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion (University of North Carolina Press, 2005).

Following a successful academic career, Mr. Cohen returned to the practice of law and became Principal of the Michael H. Cohen Law Group.

In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Cohen received certification as a Registered Yoga Teacher. Whether advising start-ups or established companies, he brings his entrepreneurial spirit and caring insight to cutting-edge legal and regulatory challenges.

Mr. Cohen is admitted to practice in California, Massachusetts New York, and Washington, D.C.

Education: B.A., Columbia University, New York. J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. M.B.A., Haas School of Management, University of California, Berkeley. M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop, University of Iowa.

Member of the Bar: California (1999), Massachusetts (1988), New York (1988), Washington D.C. (2000).

Selected Legal Experience: Legislative Aide, New York City Councilman Henry J. Stern (1982). Assistant Investment Officer, Municipal Assistance Corporation for the City of New York (1983). Invited to Boston University Law Review (1984). Invited to California Law Review (1984). Member and Book Review Editor, California Law Review (1984-86). Law Clerk, Judge Thomas P. Griesa, United States District Court, Southern District of New York (1986-87). Associate, Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York (corporate department), New York (1990-93). Associate, Shereff, Friedman, Hoffman & Goodman (litigation department), New York (1993). Adjunct Instructor, Brooklyn Law School (1993; legal writing, moot court); Associate Professor, Widener University School of Law and Chapman University School of Law (1993-99; civil procedure, conflicts of laws, constitutional law, criminal law, health law, insurance law); Visiting Professor, Arizona State University (East Campus 1999-00). Associate, Burkhalter, Michaels & George, Orange County, California (2000; Of Counsel, 2001-02). Senior Lecturer, College of the Bahamas (UWI/LLB Program) (2005-2008; intellectual property, legal methods, law of international organizations, private international law). Principal, Michael H. Cohen Law Group (est. 1999).

Selected Health Law Experience: Medical Institute for Law Faculty, Cleveland-Marshall School of Law and Cleveland Clinic (1995). Director of Legal Programs, Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (2000-02); Director of Legal Programs, Harvard Medical School Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies (2000-05) and Harvard Medical School Osher Institute, Boston (2002-05). Lecturer on Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University (2000-02); Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University (2002-05); Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University (2005-2008); Course Director, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Health Law and Policy (HPM 218), Department of Health Policy & Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University (2003-). Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health (2005-).

Selected Grants and Awards: G. Joseph Tauro Distinguished Scholar (1983); Recipient, Corpus Juris Secundum Award (1983); Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award (1983). Fortieth Anniversary Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University (2002-03). Principal Investigator, Legal and Social Barriers to Alternative Therapies, National Library of Medicine (National Institutes of Health) (2001-04); Principal Investigator, Pediatric Use of Complementary Therapies by Parents: Ethical and Policy Choices, Greenwall Foundation (2004-05); Co-Investigator, Models of Integrative Care in an Academic Health Center, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2001-05); Co-Investigator, International Center for Research on CAM, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2003-05); Research Collaborator, Decision-Making About Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Children and Youth: Legal, Ethical and Clinical Issues, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto (2004-06).

Other Training: M.S.C., The New Seminary, New York, 1992. Graduate, Barbara Brennan School of Healing, 1996. Hospice training, Compassion in Action, Los Angeles VA Hospital, 1999. Hatha Yoga Teaching Certificate, Full Spectrum Yoga, 2004. R.Y.T. (Registered Yoga Teacher), Yoga Alliance, 2004.

Selected Publications: Reconstructing the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing as a Tort, 73 Calif. L. Rev. 1291 (1985); A Fixed Star in Health Care Reform: The Emerging Paradigm of Holistic Healing, 27 Ariz. State L. J. 79 (1995); Toward a Bioethics of Compassion, 28 Ind. L. J. 667 (1995); Holistic Health Care: Including Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Insurance and Regulatory Schemes, 38 Ariz. L. Rev. 83 (1996); Malpractice and Vicarious Liability for Providers of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Bender's Health Care Monthly 3 (July 1996); Creative Writing for Lawyers (New York: Carol Publishing, 1990); Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Malpractice Considerations Affecting the Clinical Integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2:4 Current Practice of Medicine 87 (1999); U.S. Dietary Supplement Regulation: Belief Systems and Legal Rules, 11:1 Hastings Women's L. J. 3 (2000); Beyond Complementary Medicine: Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Health Care and Human Evolution (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000); Future Medicine: Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health and Healing in Human Transformation (University of Michigan Press, 2003); Legal Issues in Integrative Medicine (NAF Press, 2005); Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion (University of North Carolina Press, in press, 2006); Regulation, Religious Experience, and Epilepsy: A Lens on Complementary Therapies, 4:6 Epilepsy Behav. 602 (2003); Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, the FDA, and the NIH: Definitions and Regulation, 16 Derm. Ther. 77 (2003); Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion: Regulating Potential Abuse of Authority by Spiritual Healers, 18:2 J. Law. & Relig. 373 (2004); Legal and Ethical Issues in Complementary Medicine: A U.S. Perspective, Med. J. Australia 2004;181:3:168-169; Negotiating Integrative Medicine: A Framework for Provider-Patient Conversations. Negotiation J. 2004;30:3;409-433; Regulating 'Healing:' Notes on the Ecology of Awareness and the Awareness of Ecology. St. John's L. Rev. 2005;78:4:1167-1192. Selected additional publications available at CAMLawBlog.

See complete list of Michael H. Cohen's Books and Publications by clicking here.