When the hazard is human: irrationality, inequity, and unintended consequences in federal regulation of contagion.

The resurgence of infectious disease 1 during the past two decades has been one of the most unexpected, influential, and defining challenges of our time. 2 Notwithstanding the medical profession's mid-century declaration of victory over contagion, 3 recent outbreaks of infectious diseases in the United States, 4 especially Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”), 5 have *1368 taken hundreds of thousands of lives 6 and cost billions of dollars. 7 By many accounts, this increasing incidence of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease will continue into the foreseeable future. 8