I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1280 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to carry out a program of research related to 

cerebral palsy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out 

a program of research related to cerebral palsy, 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 ‘‘Cerebral Palsy Re5 search Program Authorization Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Cerebral palsy is the most common motor 

2 disability in children, affecting more than 1,000,000 

3 Americans, 1 in 345 children, and over 17,000,000 

4 people worldwide. 

5 (2) In the United States, more than 10,000 ba6 bies are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year. 

7 (3) Cerebral palsy is a broad group of disorders 

8 disrupting a person’s ability to move, sit, stand, 

9 walk, talk, and use their hands. 

10 (4) In more than 80 percent of cases, the cause 

11 of cerebral palsy is unknown. 

12 (5) Seventy-five percent of individuals with cer13 ebral palsy also have 1 or more additional develop14 mental disabilities including epilepsy, intellectual dis15 abilities, communication problems, learning and at16 tention disorders, chronic pain, autism, hearing dis17 orders, and visual impairments or blindness. 

18 (6) Children with cerebral palsy are more likely 

19 to die from the flu and related viruses, including 

20 COVID–19, than children without neurologic dis21 orders. 

22 (7) There is no consensus of best practices for 

23 a person with cerebral palsy at the time of diagnosis 

24 or through the lifespan. 


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1 (8) It is estimated that the lifetime care and 

2 medical costs for all people with cerebral palsy who 

3 were born in 2000 alone will total more than 

4 $13,500,000,000. The loss of productivity and lost 

5 wages of the individual with cerebral palsy and their 

6 family members is more than $35,000,000,000. 

7 (9) There is no known cure for cerebral palsy, 

8 and in most cases, it is not preventable. 

9 SEC. 3. CEREBRAL PALSY RESEARCH. 

10 Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended 

11 by inserting after section 317C of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 247b–4) the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 317C–1. CEREBRAL PALSY RESEARCH. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

15 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre16 vention, and in consultation with other Federal agencies 

17 and partners, shall carry out (directly or through grants 

18 or contracts) a program of research related to cerebral 

19 palsy, including— 

20 ‘‘(1) research on— 

21 ‘‘(A) the most promising avenues of cere22 bral palsy diagnosis and treatment; 

23 ‘‘(B) factors that may mitigate the preva24 lence of cerebral palsy; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the health care and societal costs of 

2 cerebral palsy; 

3 ‘‘(2) public health surveillance; and 

4 ‘‘(3) other research that the Director of the 

5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deter6 mines to be appropriate to provide education and 

7 training for health professionals and the general 

8 public for purposes of diagnosing, treating, and ex9 plaining the causes, prevalence, and lifelong effects 

10 of cerebral palsy. 

11 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

12 (directly or through grants or contracts) provide technical 

13 assistance to public and nonprofit private entities in fur14 therance of research under this section. 

15 ‘‘(c) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall (directly or 

16 through grants or contracts) provide for the evaluation of 

17 activities under subsection (a) in order to determine the 

18 extent to which such activities have been effective, includ19 ing evaluation of the effects of such activities on various 

20 demographic populations. 

21 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

22 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro23 priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

24 2029.’’. 

Æ 


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