Publications
My publications span legal scholarship, economics and empirical legal studies, and medical and health-policy research. The selected publications below are organized by disciplinary venue; titles link to verified journal, publisher, repository, or SSRN records where available.
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Law Reviews
A Constitutional Accounting of the False Claims Act
Mackenzi Barrett, Benjamin J. McMichael, and W. Kip Viscusi
Forthcoming Vanderbilt Law Review (2026).
The Future of Frozen Embryos
Clare Ryan and Benjamin J. McMichael
SMU Law Review, 78(3): 789–826 (2025).
A Constitutional False Claims Act
Benjamin J. McMichael, Mackenzi Barrett, and W. Kip Viscusi
Washington University Law Review, 102(3): 677–750 (2025).
Inequitable Organ Allocation
Benjamin J. McMichael
UC Davis Law Review, 58(1): 1–110 (2024).
Reproductive Objectification
Meghan M. Boone and Benjamin J. McMichael
Minnesota Law Review, 108(5): 2493–2560 (2024).
Bringing Predictability to the Chaos of Punitive Damages
Benjamin J. McMichael and W. Kip Viscusi
Arizona State Law Journal, 54(2): 471–525 (2022).
Stealing Organs?
Benjamin J. McMichael
Indiana Law Journal, 97(1): 135–201 (2022).
Socially Distant Healthcare
Benjamin J. McMichael, with Allyson Gold and Alicia Gilbert
Tulane Law Review, 96: 423–468 (2022).
The Access-to-Care Epidemic
Benjamin J. McMichael
Wake Forest Law Review, 56(3) (2021).
State-Created Fetal Harm
Meghan Boone and Benjamin J. McMichael
Georgetown Law Journal, 109(3): 475–522 (2021).
Insuring Apologies
Benjamin J. McMichael
Florida State University Law Review, 48(3): 651–718 (2021).
Contaminated Relationships in the Opioid Crisis
Elissa Philip Gentry and Benjamin J. McMichael
Hastings Law Journal, 72(3): 827–870 (2021).
Occupational Licensing and the Opioid Crisis
Benjamin J. McMichael
UC Davis Law Review, 54(2): 887–966 (2020).
Healthcare Licensing and Liability
Benjamin J. McMichael
Indiana Law Journal, 95(3): 821–881 (2020).
“Sorry” Is Never Enough: How State Apology Laws Fail to Reduce Medical Malpractice Liability Risk
Benjamin J. McMichael, R. Lawrence Van Horn, and W. Kip Viscusi
Stanford Law Review, 71(2): 341–409 (2019).
Taming Blockbuster Punitive Damages Awards
Benjamin J. McMichael and W. Kip Viscusi
University of Illinois Law Review, 2019(1): 171–221 (2019).
The Failure of “Sorry”: An Empirical Evaluation of Apology Laws, Health Care, and Medical Malpractice
Benjamin J. McMichael
Lewis & Clark Law Review, 22(4): 1199–1281 (2018).
Peer-Reviewed Economics & Empirical Legal Studies
Sharing Is Caring: Eliminating Geographic Boundaries in Organ Allocation
Benjamin J. McMichael
Forthcoming American Journal of Health Economics (2026).
The Impact of Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws on Preventable Hospitalizations
Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Health Economics, 103: 103044 (2025).
Scope-of-Practice Laws and the Practice Patterns of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Benjamin J. McMichael
Contemporary Economic Policy, 43(1): 9–30 (2025).
Supply-Side Health Policy: The Impact of Scope-of-Practice Laws on Mortality
Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Public Economics, 222: 104901 (2023).
Responses to Liability Immunization: Evidence from Medical Devices
Elissa P. Gentry and Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 17(4): 789–819 (2020).
The Impact of Cannabis Access Laws on Opioid Prescribing
Benjamin J. McMichael, R. Lawrence Van Horn, and W. Kip Viscusi
Journal of Health Economics, 69: 102273 (2020).
Shifting Liability with Licensing: An Empirical Analysis of Medical Malpractice and Scope-of-Practice Laws
Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Tort Law, 12(2): 213–253 (2019).
Beyond Physicians: The Effect of Licensing and Liability Laws on Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 15(4): 732–771 (2018).
The Demand for Healthcare Regulation: The Effect of Political Spending on Occupational Licensing Laws
Benjamin J. McMichael
Southern Economic Journal, 84(1): 297–316 (2017).
The Punitive Damages Calculus: The Differential Incidence of State Punitive Damages Reforms
Benjamin J. McMichael and W. Kip Viscusi
Southern Economic Journal, 84(1): 82–97 (2017).
Shifting the Fat-Tailed Distribution of Blockbuster Punitive Damages Awards
W. Kip Viscusi and Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 11(2): 350–377 (2014).
Peer-Reviewed Medical & Health Policy
The Relationship Between Ambulatory Sensitive Conditions and Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws
Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of Nursing Regulation, 17(2) (2026).
Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws and Preventable Pediatric Hospitalizations
Benjamin J. McMichael
Medical Care Research and Review, 83(4): 239–250 (2026).
Impact of Fentanyl Test Strips as Harm Reduction for Drug-Related Mortality
Moiz Bhai, Benjamin J. McMichael, and David T. Mitchell
Medical Care Research and Review, 82(3): 240–251 (2025).
Maximizing the Potential Value of the Nursing Workforce
Sharon Pappas, William Brosius, Rose Hayes, Matthew Lawrence, Benjamin J. McMichael, Deborah Zimmermann, and Linda McCauley
Nursing Outlook, 72(1): 102016 (2024).
Toward a Uniform Classification of Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice Laws
Benjamin J. McMichael and Sara Markowitz
Medical Care Research and Review, 80(4): 444–454 (2023).
Antidepressants Are the Most Commonly Discontinued Psychotherapeutic Medications in Pregnancy
Hayley D. Germack, Joan Combellick, Mandy Cooper, Krista Koller, and Benjamin J. McMichael
Women’s Health Issues, 32(3): 241–250 (2022).
Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws and Opioid Prescribing
Benjamin J. McMichael
Milbank Quarterly, 99(3): 721–745 (2021).
Association of State Legislation and Industry Compensation to Orthopaedic Residents: A 3-Year Review of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments Database
Bradley W. Wills, Adam M. Almaguer, Joseph X. Robin, Adam Archie, Benjamin J. McMichael, Gerald McGwin Jr., S. Elizabeth Ames, and Brent A. Ponce
Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 28(22): e1020–e1028 (2020).
Open Payments Reporting of Industry Compensation for Orthopedic Residents
Adam M. Almaguer, Bradley W. Wills, Joseph X. Robin, Yvonne Chodaba, Alexandra M. Arguello, Benjamin J. McMichael, Gerald McGwin Jr., and Brent A. Ponce
Journal of Surgical Education, 77(6): 1632–1637 (2020).
The Association of Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws with Emergency Department Use: Evidence from Medicaid Expansion
Benjamin J. McMichael, Joanne Spetz, and Peter I. Buerhaus
Medical Care, 57(5): 362–368 (2019).
Public Attitudes toward Contemporary Issues in Liver Allocation
Heather W. O’Dell, Benjamin J. McMichael, Suzie Lee, Jay L. Karp, R. Lawrence Van Horn, and Seth J. Karp
American Journal of Transplantation, 19(4): 1212–1217 (2019).
The Extraregulatory Effect of Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws on Physician Malpractice Rates
Benjamin J. McMichael, Barbara J. Safriet, and Peter I. Buerhaus
Medical Care Research and Review, 75(3): 312–326 (2018).
Book Chapters
Negligence, Intentional Torts, Professional Liability, and Medical Malpractice
Benjamin J. McMichael
Laws of Medicine: 129–149 (2022).
The Economic Context of Nursing Practice in the United States
Benjamin J. McMichael and Joanne Spetz
Financial and Business Management for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (2022).
Short Academic Works
Nurse Practitioner Entrepreneurs—An Untapped Primary Care Lifeline
Monica O’Reilly-Jacob, Betty Rambur, Benjamin J. McMichael, and Jennifer Perloff
JAMA Health Forum, 7(1): e256200 (2026).
Developing Safe Harbors to Address Malpractice Liability and Wasteful Health Care Spending
James F. Blumstein, Benjamin J. McMichael, and Alan B. Storrow
JAMA Health Forum, 4(11): e233899 (2023).
Constraints on Medical Liability Through Malpractice Safe Harbors
James F. Blumstein, Benjamin J. McMichael, and Alan B. Storrow
JAMA Health Forum, 1(8): e200961 (2020).
COVID-19 and State Medical Liability Immunity
Benjamin J. McMichael, John R. Lowry, William H. Frist, and R. Lawrence Van Horn
Health Affairs Forefront (2020).
Are PAs and NPs Interchangeable?
Roderick S. Hooker and Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, 32(9): 16–17 (2019).
The Integrity of MACRA May Be Undermined By “Incident To Billing” Coding
Peter Buerhaus, Jonathan Skinner, Benjamin J. McMichael, David Auerbach, Jennifer Perloff, Douglas Staiger, and Lucy Skinner
Health Affairs Forefront (2018).
Worried About Malpractice?
Benjamin F. Byrd III, Jim Cooper, and Benjamin J. McMichael
Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, 29(12): 1161–1162 (2016).