I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5570 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a review of the 

deaths of certain veterans who died by suicide, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2020 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. HECK, 

Mr. RUSH, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. PETERS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. KILMER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. OLSON, Mr. KATKO, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 

AMODEI, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. KEATING, Ms. 

STEFANIK, and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a 

review of the deaths of certain veterans who died by 

suicide, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Suicide Pre5 vention Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REVIEW OF 

2 CERTAIN VETERANS’ DEATHS BY SUICIDE. 

3 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 months 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

5 of Veterans Affairs shall complete a review of the deaths 

6 of all covered veterans who died by suicide during the five7 year period preceding the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act. Such review shall include— 

9 (1) the total number of veterans who died by 

10 suicide during the five-year period preceding the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act; 

12 (2) a summary of such veterans that includes 

13 the age, gender, and race of such veterans; 

14 (3) a comprehensive list of the medications pre15 scribed to, and found in the systems of, such vet16 erans at the time of their deaths, specifically listing 

17 any medications that carried a black box warning, 

18 were off-label, psychotropic, or carried warnings that 

19 included suicidal ideation; 

20 (4) a summary of medical diagnoses by Depart21 ment of Veterans Affairs physicians which led to the 

22 prescribing of the medications referred to in para23 graph (3); 

24 (5) the number of instances in which the vet25 eran who died by suicide was concurrently on mulVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5570.IH H5570

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1 tiple medications prescribed by Department of Vet2 erans Affairs physicians; 

3 (6) the percentage of veterans who died by sui4 cide who were not taking any medication prescribed 

5 by a Department of Veterans Affairs physician; 

6 (7) the percentage of veterans referred to in 

7 paragraph (1) with combat experience or trauma 

8 (including, but not limited to military sexual trauma, 

9 traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress); 

10 (8) Veteran Health Administration facilities 

11 with markedly high prescription and suicide rates of 

12 patients being treated at those facilities; 

13 (9) a description of Department of Veterans Af14 fairs policies governing the prescribing of medica15 tions referred to in paragraph (3); 

16 (10) any patterns apparent to the Secretary 

17 based on the review; and 

18 (11) recommendations for further action that 

19 would improve the safety and well-being of veterans. 

20 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 days 

21 after the completion of the review required under sub22 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) submit to Congress a report on the results 

24 of the review; and 

25 (2) make such report publicly available. 


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1 (c) COVERED VETERAN.—In this section: 

2 (1) The term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means any vet3 eran who received hospital care or medical services 

4 furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs 

5 during the five-year period preceding the death of 

6 the veteran. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘black box warning’’ means a 

8 warning displayed within a box in the prescribing in9 formation for drugs that have special problems, par10 ticularly ones that may lead to death or serious in11 jury. 

Æ 


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