Barbara Reich is a Professor of Law at Western New England University School of Law. She joined the law faculty in 2005 and teaches Torts and a variety of health law subjects. She has served as a member of Mercy Hospital's Ethics and Social Justice Committee and Ethics Consultation Committee and as a member of Baystate Medical Center's Institutional Review Board. Before joining the faculty at Western New England University, she taught health law and bioethics courses for eight years at the University of Florida’s Colleges of Law, Medicine, and Health Professions as a Lecturer in Law. Barbara also has prior experience as a member of a hospital ethics committee and institutional review board at Florida’s teaching hospital.
She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Union College, summa cum laude. She then spent two years in private practice in Washington, DC, specializing in pharmaceutical and medical device law. Her research interests include legal and ethical issues in end-of-life decision making; comparative end-of-life law; pediatric health issues; racial disparities in the delivery of health care, clinical research ethics, and the impact of politics in science and medicine.
Barbara was a past Visiting Scholar at Exeter University School of Law in the United Kingdom and Queen's University School of Law in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She also completed an appointment in Spring 2017 as the Schulich Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Books
Barbara A. Reich, Intimations of Mortality: Medical Decision-Making at the End of Life (2022).
Lars Noah & Barbara A. Noah, Law, Medicine, and Medical Technology: Cases and Materials (2002).
Book Chapters
Barbara A. Reich, Informed Consent Hope, in Patient Safety Law, Ethics and Practice in the NHS: Towards a Management Culture (John Tingle et al. eds., forthcoming 2025).
Barbara A. Reich, Older People and Assisted Dying, in Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing 465 (Sue Westwood & Nancy J. Knauer eds., 2024).
Barbara Reich, Comparative Perspectives on Medical Aid in Dying: The United States and Canada, in Routledge Handbook of Global Health Rights 367 (Clayton Ó Néill et al. eds., 2021).
Barbara A. Noah, State Adverse Health Incident Reporting Systems in the United States, in Global Perspectives on Patient Safety: Law, Policy and Practice 126 (John Tingle et al. eds., 2019).
Journal Articles
B.A. Reich, Surrogate Decision-Making: Clinical Uncertainty, Rational Apathy, and the Problem of Trust, 15 Ethics, Med. & Pub. Health J. (2020).
Barbara A. Noah & René Reich-Graefe, Rational Patient Apathy, 49 Seton Hall L. Rev. 535 (2019).
Kathy L. Cerminara & Barbara A. Noah, Removing Obstacles to a Peaceful Death, 25 Elder L.J. 197 (2018).
Barbara A. Noah, Teaching Bioethics: The Role of Empathy & Humility in the Teaching and Practice of Law, 28 Health Matrix 201 (2018).
B.A. Noah, Potential Utility of an Independent Decision-Making Board for Seriously Ill Patients Lacking Decisional Capacity, 6 Ethics, Med. & Pub. Health J. 63 (2018).
Barbara A. Noah & Neal R. Feigenson, Avoiding Overtreatment at the End of Life: Physician-Patient Communication and Truly Informed Consent, 36 Pace L. Rev. 737 (2016).
Barbara A. Noah, The (Ir)rationality of (Un)informed Consent, 34 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 691 (2016).
Barbara A. Noah, A Better Death in Britain?, 40 Brooklyn J. Int’l L. 869 (2015).
Barbara A. Noah, The Inclusion of Pregnant Women in Clinical Research, 7 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol’y 353 (2014).
Barbara A. Noah, A Role for Law in Preparing for Death, 153 Trs. & Ests. 55 (2014).
Barbara A. Noah, In Denial: The Role of Law in Preparing for Death, 21 Elder L.J. 1 (2013).
Barbara A. Noah, Two Conflicts in Context: Lessons from the Schiavo and Bland Cases and the Role of Best Interests Analysis in the United Kingdom, 36 Hamline L. Rev. 239 (2013).
Barbara A. Noah, The Role of Race in End of Life Care, 15 J. Health Care L. & Pol’y 349 (2012).
Barbara A. Noah, Race and Healthcare in America: Foreword, 10 Hous. J. Health L. & Pol’y 195 (2010).
Barbara A. Noah, Just a Spoonful of Sugar: Drug Safety for Pediatric Populations, 37 J.L., Med. & Ethics 280 (2009).
Barbara A. Noah, A Prescription for Racial Equality in Medicine, 40 Conn. L. Rev. 675 (2008).
Barbara A. Noah, Human Rights and Healthcare, 18 L.& Pol. Book Rev. 441 (2008) (book review).
Lars Noah & Barbara A. Noah, A Drug by Any Other Name...: Paradoxes in Dietary Supplement Risk Regulation, 17 Stan. L. & Pol’y Rev. 165 (2006).
Barbara A. Noah, The Role of Religion in the Schiavo Controversy, 6 Hous. J. Health L. & Pol’y 319 (2006).
Barbara A. Noah, Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts, 16 L.& Pol. Book Rev. 785 (2006) (book review).
Barbara A. Noah, The Medical Malpractice Myth, 16 L.& Pol. Book Rev. 253 (2006) (book review).
Barbara A. Noah, Foreword: Dietary Supplement Regulation in Flux, 31 Am. J.L. & Med. 147 (2005).
Barbara A. Noah, A Review of the New York State Task Force on Life & the Law's Report Dietary Supplements: Balancing Consumer Choice & Safety, 33 J.L., Med. & Ethics 860 (2005).
Barbara A. Noah, Bioethical Malpractice: Risk and Responsibility in Human Research, 7 J. Health Care L. & Pol’y 175 (2004).
Barbara A. Noah, Politicizing the End of Life: Lessons from the Schiavo Controversy, 59 U. Mia. L. Rev. 107 (2004).
Barbara A. Noah, AIDS and Antiretroviral Drugs in South Africa: Public Health, Politics, and Individual Suffering: A Review of Brian Tilley's It's My Life, 31 J.L., Med. & Ethics 144 (2003).
Barbara A. Noah, The Participation of Underrepresented Minorities in Clinical Research, 29 Am. J.L. & Med. 221 (2003).
Barbara A. Noah, The Invisible Patient, 2002 U. Ill. L. Rev. 121 (2002) (reviewing Sally Satel, How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine (2000)).
Barbara A. Noah, Adverse Drug Reactions: Harnessing Experiential Data to Promote Patient Welfare, 49 Cath. U. L. Rev. 449 (2000).
Barbara A. Noah, Constitutional Qualms Concerning Governmental Restrictions on Tobacco Product Advertising, 29 U. Tol. L. Rev. 637 (1998).
Barbara A. Noah, Racial Disparities in the Delivery of Health Care, 35 San Diego L. Rev. 135 (1998).
Barbara A. Noah, The Managed Care Dilemma: Can Theories of Tort Liability Adapt to the Realities of Cost Containment?, 48 Mercer L. Rev. 1219 (1997).
Lars Noah & Barbara A. Noah, Nicotine Withdrawal: Assessing the FDA's Effort to Regulate Tobacco Products, 48 Ala. L. Rev. 1 (1996).
Barbara A. Noah, Racist Health Care?, 48 Fla. L. Rev. 357 (1996).
Lars Noah & Barbara A. Noah, Liberating Commercial Speech: Product Labeling Controls and the First Amendment, 47 Fla. L. Rev. 63 (1995).
