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Law Offices · Medical Law & Public Health Law · www.med-law.co.il
FIRM NEWSLETTER — SUMMER 2026
Public Health Law on the World Stage
May–August 2026: the Society for Medicine and Law’s Annual Conference, the 2026 Davies Award in Antwerp, the story of Finasteride and PFS, and new developments in Medical Law & Public Health Law.
The past few months have been landmark ones for our office. Between May and August 2026, Adv. Jonathan Davies organized the Annual Conference of the Society for Medicine and Law in Israel, took part in the presentation of the 2026 Davies Award at the 30th World Congress on Medical Law (WAML) in Antwerp, addressed the Congress on public health law, the story of Finasteride and PFS, and published new research on artificial intelligence and bias in medical expert testimony. We also have an update on new developments of Law Firm as describes in the summary of each as follows.
As President of the Society for Medicine and Law in Israel, Adv. Jonathan Davies organized the Society’s Annual Conference, held May 28–30, 2026 at the Dan Caesarea Hotel, under the title “Medicine and Law – Between Pandemic, War and the Artificial Intelligence Revolution.” Over three days, roughly 100 guests – members and their families, judges, physicians and attorneys – took part in a program combining professional sessions and cultural events of the highest academic standard. The opening ceremony paid tribute to Prof. Amnon Carmi, the Society’s founder and first president, and bid a warm farewell to the outgoing board member, the late Prof. Moshik Salai.
The Scientific program included a mock trial on post-COVID myocarditis, presided over by retired Justice Esther Dudkevitz with practicing attorneys and medical experts arguing both sides; a session on the medico-legal implications of the Iron Swords War, chaired by Adv. Anat Ginzburg with leading experts Prof. Arnon Afek, Prof. Gil Siwri, Dr. Eddie Garber and Prof. Dan Buskila — a discussion so rich that the Society has since agreed to devote a dedicated future conference specifically to the subject and include Public Health Law implications ; a session on Class Actions as a tool for protecting public health, chaired by Adv. David Or-Chen with retired Justice Esther Shtemer; and a closing session on bias in medical expert opinions in the age of artificial intelligence, chaired by Dr. Avi Rubinstein, in which Adv. Davies took part alongside Justice Arnon Darel, Prof. Shmuel Heyman and Adv. Avichai Dar. Presentations and articles can be acceded upon request.
The cultural program featured a talk by Rabbi Yishai Engelman on his experience during the Iron Swords War, and by Col. (ret.) Adv. Dorit Tuval, formerly of the Military Advocate General’s Corps, on “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words” — the stories behind historic press photographs. The conference also featured a live recording of the podcast “Behind the Scenes of Medical Negligence Claims,” hosted by Adv. Yair Sklarsky and Adv. Liron Liberman, with guest of honor, retired Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Eliezer Rivlin — you can listen to the episode here and on Spotify.
Warm thanks to Sara Mohar, the Society’s secretary, and to all the session chairs and participants whose efforts gave the conference its high academic standard.
On August 7, 2026, at the Gala Dinner of the 30th Annual World Congress of the World Association for Medical Law (WAML), held in the historic Marble Hall of Antwerp Zoo, Belgium, the 2026 Davies Award for Public Health Law was presented. The award was established in 2016 by Adv. Jonathan Davies and his family in memory of his late father, Prof. A. Michael Davies (1924–2016), a pioneer of modern public health in Israel and a senior WHO advisor. Adv. Davies served on the international jury alongside with WAML President Prof. Thierry Vansweevelt, Prof. Albert Lee Editor in Chief of the Medicine and Law English of the WAML and Prof. Ian Freckelton KC. First prize went to Juan Qiao (Sichuan University, China) for a paper on state obligations in public health emergencies; second prize to Xuxin Yao, for work on the European Health Data Space; and third prize to Céline Joisten, for a paper on liability in the care of rare diseases. In his address, Adv. Davies described public health law as “a bridge between medicine and law.” The abstracts of papers are attached.
“Public Health Law is the bridge between Medicine and Law.”
— Adv. Jonathan Davies, from the 2026 Davies Award address, Antwerp
During the Congress, and as part of the Scientific Program Adv. Davies presented “How Does the Pharmaceutical Industry Influence Public Health Law: The Case of Finasteride and PFS” in the Pharmaceutical Law track, and chaired the “Public Health Law II” session. His talk traced two decades in which reports of Post-Finasteride Syndrome (PFS) – persistent sexual dysfunction and neuropsychiatric harm, including depression and suicidality, following use of a drug marketed for hair loss and prostate enlargement – were discounted for lack of definitive trials that manufacturers never conducted. Only in 2022–2025 did the FDA, EMA, ANSM and MHRA mandate explicit suicidality warnings. Drawing on cases such as Paul Dawson v. Merck & Co. and the consolidated Propecia/Proscar litigation, Adv. Davies argued that class actions and personal-injury suits – not regulation – forced the disclosure that ultimately drove reform, and that public health law must learn to convert safety signals into protection before harm accumulates. The abstract and pp. are available here.
The PFS Foundation has also published an article that refers to the regulatory developments mentioned in the presentation. Available here
Adv. Davies has completed new academic work on artificial intelligence and bias in expert testimony in medical malpractice cases. In a chapter written for Springer Nature, Roy G. Beran (Eds): Legal and Forensic Medicine “Bias in Expert Opinion Presented to Court and the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” he examines the structural and cognitive biases affecting expert witnesses – including the “hired gun” phenomenon and the “conspiracy of silence” among treating physicians – alongside the distortions that sponsorship bias, publication bias and ghostwriting introduce into the medical literature on which experts rely, before assessing the risks and promise of AI as a corrective tool. A companion Hebrew-language article for the Medicine and Law Journal, co-authored with Prof. Shmuel Heyman, Prof. Meir Brezis, Adv. Roei Amir and Prof. Ben Reiss (Harvard Medical School), tested a specialized medical AI platform against Israeli district-court rulings and clinical dilemmas, finding real gains in speed and accuracy alongside continuing limits around source reliability. A third related paper has been submitted to an online article of combining Open Evidence with Legal AI is about to published soon.
Updated on Medico Legal developments in Jonathan Davies & Co. Law Offices.
In addition to the above contribution as mentioned the Firm will continue to represent private injured in medical malpractice cases of all kinds against medical institutes. In addition, the firm is handling mass torts cases such as the wrongful adoption cases v. the State of Israel and the Doctors who misdiagnosed hundreds of children who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD), Patients who suffer from neuropsychological side effect due to Finestride. And also, patients who suffer medical injuries due to malpractice in medical institutions.
About Jonathan Davies & Co.
Jonathan Davies & Co. is an Israeli law office focusing on medical law, medical malpractice and public health law, headed by Adv. Jonathan Davies, LLM, President of the Society for Medicine and Law in Israel and WAML Governor for Israel. We thank our colleagues, clients and friends for their continued interest in our work — and look forward to sharing further updates in the months ahead. Jonathan Davies & Co. is ranked as the leading law firm in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury in Israel. Duns 100 פרופיל המשרד באתר
For the full papers, the conference program, or any inquiry, please visit www.med-law.co.il or write to [email protected].
As we approach the Jewish Holidays We wish all our readers a Happy New Year, Good Health and Best Wishes
