I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1023

To provide procedures for claims for compassionate payments with regard

to individuals with blood-clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, who

contracted human immunodeficiency virus due to contaminated blood

products.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 23, 1995

Mr. GOSS (for himself, Mr. QUILLEN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MILLER of Florida,

Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. ENGLISH of

Pennsylvania, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. CALVERT, Ms.

FURSE, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. STUDDS, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr.

RAHALL, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr.

BECERRA, Mrs. SEASTRAND, and Mr. MCHALE) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide procedures for claims for compassionate payments

with regard to individuals with blood-clotting disorders,

such as hemophilia, who contracted human immunodeficiency virus due to contaminated blood products.

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 ‘‘Ricky Ray Hemophilia

5 Relief Fund Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

(1) approximately 1 3 ⁄2 of all individuals in the

4 United States who suffer from blood-clotting dis5 orders, such as hemophilia, were exposed, through

6 the use of blood-clotting agents, to human

7 immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes the

8 fatal illness known as acquired immune deficiency

9 syndrome (AIDS);

10 (2) the Federal Government has a shared re11 sponsibility with the blood-products industry for pro12 tecting the safety of the blood supply of the Nation

13 and for regulating the safety of blood-clotting

14 agents;

15 (3) blood and blood derivatives (including blood16 clotting agents) are subject to more stringent regula17 tion by the Federal Government than are most prod18 ucts regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and

19 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), because blood

20 and blood derivatives are subject to regulation under

21 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et

22 seq.) as well as the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos23 metic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.);

24 (4) individuals with blood-clotting disorders,

25 such as hemophilia, were at an unusually high and

26 largely preventable risk of contracting HIV during
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1 the period beginning in 1980 (when technology be2 came available to pasteurize blood-clotting agents)

3 and ending in 1987 (when the last mass recall of

4 contaminated anti-hemophilic factor (AHF) oc5 curred);

6 (5) during the period beginning in 1980 and

7 ending in 1987, despite growing concerns about

8 blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis and HIV, the

9 Federal Government did not require the blood-prod10 ucts industry to use available technology to ensure

11 the safety of blood products that were allowed on the

12 market for sale to individuals with blood-clotting dis13 orders, such as hemophilia;

14 (6) the Federal Government did not require

15 that, to allow for fully informed decisionmaking re16 garding treatment options, the blood-products indus17 try provide directly to individuals with blood-clotting

18 disorders, such as hemophilia, all available informa19 tion about the risks of contaminated blood products;

20 (7) the Federal Government failed to fulfill its

21 responsibility to properly regulate the blood-products

22 industry, and thus exposed individuals with blood23 clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, and their

24 families to potential infection with a fatal disease;
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1 (8) 17 other developed countries have estab2 lished government compensation programs to assist

3 individuals with blood-clotting disorders, such as he4 mophilia, who were infected with HIV;

5 (9) individuals with blood-clotting disorders,

6 such as hemophilia, who have HIV infections incur

7 annual medical costs that often exceed $150,000,

8 due to the expense of the necessary medications and

9 the complications caused by the combination of the

10 2 illnesses;

11 (10) Ricky Ray was born with hemophilia and,

12 like his 2 younger brothers and thousands of others,

13 became infected with the deadly HIV through use of

14 contaminated blood-clotting products;

15 (11) Ricky Ray and his family have brought na16 tional attention to the suffering of individuals with

17 blood-clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, and

18 their families, who have been devastated by HIV;

19 and

20 (12) Ricky Ray died at the age of 15 on De21 cember 13, 1992, of hemophilia-associated AIDS,

22 and this Act should bear his name.

23 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab24 lish a procedure to make partial restitution to individuals

25 who were infected with HIV after treatment, during the
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1 period beginning in 1980 and ending in 1987, with con2 taminated blood products.

3 SEC. 3. TRUST FUND.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

5 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known

6 as the ‘‘Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund’’, which shall

7 be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury.

8 (b) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Amounts

9 in the Fund shall be invested in accordance with section

10 9702 of title 31, United States Code, and any interest on

11 and proceeds from any such investment shall be credited

12 to and become part of the Fund.

13 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund

14 shall be available only for disbursement by the Attorney

15 General under section 5.

16 (d) TERMINATION.—The Fund shall terminate upon

17 the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date

18 of the enactment of this Act. If all of the amounts in the

19 Fund have not been expended by the end of the 5-year

20 period, investments of amounts in the Fund shall be liq21 uidated, the receipts of such liquidation shall be deposited

22 in the Fund, and all funds remaining in the Fund shall

23 be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts account in the

24 Treasury of the United States.
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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund to carry out

3 this Act $1,000,000,000.

4 SEC. 4. CLAIMS RELATING TO BLOOD-CLOTTING DIS5 ORDERS AND HIV.

6 Any individual who submits to the Attorney General

7 written medical documentation that the individual has an

8 HIV infection shall receive $125,000, from amounts avail9 able in the Fund, if each of the following conditions is

10 met:

11 (1) CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUAL.—The

12 individual is described in 1 of the following subpara13 graphs:

14 (A) The individual has any form of blood15 clotting disorder, such as hemophilia, and was

16 treated with blood-clotting agents (in the form

17 of blood components or blood products) at any

18 time during the period beginning on January 1,

19 1980, and ending on December 31, 1987.

20 (B) The individual—

21 (i) is the lawful spouse of an individ22 ual described in subparagraph (A); or

23 (ii) is the former lawful spouse of an

24 individual described in subparagraph (A)

25 and was the lawful spouse of the individual
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1 at any time after a date, within the period

2 described in such subparagraph, on which

3 the individual was treated as described in

4 such subparagraph.

5 (C) The individual acquired the HIV infec6 tion through perinatal transmission from a par7 ent who is an individual described in subpara8 graph (A) or (B).

9 (2) CLAIM.—A claim for the payment is filed

10 with the Attorney General by or on behalf of the in11 dividual.

12 (3) DETERMINATION.—The Attorney General

13 determines, in accordance with section 5(b), that the

14 claim meets the requirements of this Act.

15 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FILING PROCEDURES.—The

17 Attorney General shall establish procedures under which

18 individuals may submit claims for payment under this Act.

19 The procedures shall include a requirement that each

20 claim filed under this Act include written medical docu21 mentation that the relevant individual described in section

22 4(1)(A) has a blood-clotting disorder, such as hemophilia,

23 and was treated as described in such section.
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1 (b) DETERMINATION OF CLAIMS.—For each claim

2 filed under this Act, the Attorney General shall determine

3 whether the claim meets the requirements of this Act.

4 (c) PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

6 pay, from amounts available in the Fund, each claim

7 that the Attorney General determines meets the re8 quirements of this Act.

9 (2) PAYMENTS IN CASE OF DECEASED INDIVID10 UALS.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi12 vidual referred to in section 4 who is deceased

13 at the time that payment is made under this

14 section on a claim filed by or on behalf of the

15 individual, the payment shall be made to the es16 tate of the individual, if such an estate exists.

17 If no such estate exists, the payment may be

18 made only as follows:

19 (i) If the individual is survived by a

20 spouse who is living at the time of pay21 ment, the payment shall be made to such

22 surviving spouse.

23 (ii) If the individual is not survived by

24 a spouse described in clause (i), the pay25 ment shall be made in equal shares to all
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1 children of the individual who are living at

2 the time of the payment.

3 (iii) If the individual is not survived

4 by a person described in clause (i) or (ii),

5 the payment shall be made in equal shares

6 to the parents of the individual who are

7 living at the time of payment.

8 (B) FILING OF CLAIM BY ESTATE OR SUR9 VIVOR.—If an individual eligible for payment

10 under section 4 dies before filing a claim under

11 this Act—

12 (i) the estate of the individual, if such

13 an estate exists, may file a claim for pay14 ment under this Act on behalf of the indi15 vidual; or

16 (ii) if no such estate exists, a survivor

17 of the individual may file a claim for pay18 ment under this Act on behalf of the indi19 vidual if the survivor may receive payment

20 under subparagraph (A).

21 (C) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this

22 paragraph:

23 (i) The term ‘‘spouse’’ means an indi24 vidual who was lawfully married to the rel25 evant individual.
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1 (ii) The term ‘‘child’’ includes a recog2 nized natural child, a stepchild who lived

3 with the relevant individual in a regular

4 parent-child relationship, and an adopted

5 child.

6 (iii) The term ‘‘parent’’ includes fa7 thers and mothers through adoption.

8 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The Attorney Gen9 eral may not make a payment on a claim under this

10 Act before the expiration of the 90-day period begin11 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act or

12 after the expiration of the 5-year period beginning

13 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

14 (4) CHOICE OF PAYMENT METHODS.—An indi15 vidual whom the Attorney General determines to be

16 entitled to a payment under subsection (c)(1) may

17 choose to receive the payment in the form of—

18 (A) a lump sum of $125,000, which shall

19 be paid not later than 90 days after the Attor20 ney General determines that the individual is

21 entitled to receive payment under subsection

22 (c)(1); or

23 (B) 4 subpayments, of which—

24 (i) the 1st subpayment shall consist of

25 $50,000 and shall be paid not later than
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1 90 days after the Attorney General deter2 mines that the individual is entitled to re3 ceive payment under subsection (c)(1); and

4 (ii) the 2d, 3d, and 4th subpayments

5 shall each consist of $25,000 and shall

6 each be paid upon the expiration of the 6-

7 month period beginning on the date of the

8 preceding subpayment.

9 (d) ACTION ON CLAIMS.—The Attorney General shall

10 complete the determination required by subsection (b) re11 garding a claim not later than 90 days after the claim

12 is filed under this Act.

13 (e) PAYMENT IN FULL SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS

14 AGAINST UNITED STATES.—Payment under this Act,

15 when accepted by an individual described in section 4 or

16 by the estate of or a survivor of such an individual on

17 behalf of the individual, shall be in full satisfaction of all

18 claims of or on behalf of the individual against the United

19 States (but not against any other person or entity) that

20 arise out of both an HIV infection and treatment, at any

21 time during the period beginning on January 1, 1980, and

22 ending on December 31, 1987, with blood-clotting agents

23 (in the form of blood components or blood products).

24 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS NOT PAID FROM

25 FUND.—No costs incurred by the Attorney General in car-
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1 rying out this Act may be paid from the Fund or set off

2 against, or otherwise deducted from, any payment made

3 under subsection (c)(1).

4 (g) TERMINATION OF DUTIES OF ATTORNEY GEN5 ERAL.—The duties of the Attorney General under this sec6 tion shall cease when the Fund terminates.

7 (h) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS UNDER OTHER

8 LAWS.—A payment under subsection (c)(1) to an individ9 ual or an estate—

10 (1) shall be treated for purposes of the internal

11 revenue laws of the United States as damages re12 ceived on account of personal injuries or sickness;

13 and

14 (2) shall not be included as income or resources

15 for purposes of determining the eligibility of the in16 dividual to receive benefits described in section

17 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31, United States Code, or the

18 amount of such benefits.

19 (i) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—The Attorney

20 General should use funds and resources available to the

21 Attorney General to carry out the functions of the Attor22 ney General under this Act.

23 (j) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Attorney Gen24 eral may issue regulations necessary to carry out this Act.
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1 (k) TIME OF ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS, GUIDE2 LINES, AND PROCEDURES.—The initial regulations, guide3 lines, and procedures to carry out this Act shall be issued

4 not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment

5 of this Act.

6 (l) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An individual whose claim

7 for compensation under this Act is denied may seek judi8 cial review solely in a district court of the United States.

9 The court shall review the denial on the administrative

10 record and shall hold unlawful and set aside the denial

11 if the denial is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discre12 tion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

13 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON TRANSFER AND NUMBER OF

14 CLAIMS.

15 (a) CLAIMS NOT ASSIGNABLE OR TRANSFERABLE.—

16 A claim under this Act shall not be assignable or transfer17 able.

18 (b) 1 CLAIM WITH RESPECT TO EACH VICTIM.—

19 With respect to each individual described in subparagraph

20 (A), (B), or (C) of section 4(1), the Attorney General may

21 not pay more than 1 claim filed to receive compensation

22 under this Act for the harm suffered by the individual.
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1 SEC. 7. LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.

2 The Attorney General may not pay any claim filed

3 under this Act unless the claim is filed within 3 years after

4 the date of the enactment of this Act.

5 SEC. 8. CERTAIN CLAIMS NOT AFFECTED BY PAYMENT.

6 A payment made under section 5(c)(1) shall not be

7 considered as any form of compensation, or reimburse8 ment for a loss, for purposes of imposing liability on the

9 individual receiving the payment, on the basis of such re10 ceipt, to repay any insurance carrier for insurance pay11 ments or to repay any person on account of worker’s com12 pensation payments. A payment under this Act shall not

13 affect any claim against an insurance carrier with respect

14 to insurance or against any person with respect to work15 er’s compensation.

16 SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON AGENT AND ATTORNEY FEES.

17 Notwithstanding any contract, the representative of

18 an individual may not receive, for services rendered in con19 nection with the claim of an individual under this Act,

20 more than 5 percent of a payment made under this Act

21 on the claim. Any such representative who violates this

22 section shall be fined not more than $50,000.

23 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

24 For purposes of this Act:

25 (1) The term ‘‘AIDS’’ means acquired immune

26 deficiency syndrome.
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1 (2) The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Ricky Ray

2 Hemophilia Relief Fund.

3 (3) The term ‘‘HIV’’ means human

4 immunodeficiency virus.

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