II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2840 

To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the 

establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines 

with respect to school-aged children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 4, 2009 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to 

provide for the establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines with respect to schoolaged children, 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 ‘‘Concussion Treatment 

5 and Care Tools Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘ConTACT Act of 

6 2009’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Concussions are mild traumatic brain inju2 ries, the long-term effects of which are not well un3 derstood. 

4 (2) As many as 3.8 million concussions related 

5 to sports and recreation are estimated to occur in 

6 the United States each year, although reliable data 

7 does not exist on the incidence of concussions and 

8 second impact syndrome among student athletes. 

9 (3) There is an increased risk for subsequent 

10 brain injuries among persons who have had at least 

11 one previous brain injury. 

12 (4) A repeat concussion, one that occurs before 

13 the brain recovers from a previous concussion, can 

14 slow recovery or increase the likelihood of having 

15 long-term problems. 

16 (5) In rare cases, repeat concussions can result 

17 in second impact syndrome, which can be marked by 

18 brain swelling, permanent brain damage, and death. 

19 (6) Recurrent brain injuries and second impact 

20 syndrome are highly preventable. 

21 (7) Many national organizations, including the 

22 American Academy of Neurology, the National Foot23 ball League, the American Academy of Family Phy24 sicians, and the Brain Injury Association of Amer25 ica, have adopted concussion management guideVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:02 Dec 05, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2840.IS S2840

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1 lines, but multiple directives have created confusion 

2 and sparked debate. 

3 SEC. 3. CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES WITH RE4 SPECT TO SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN. 

5 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec7 tion 317T the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 317U. CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES WITH 

9 RESPECT TO SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN. 

10 ‘‘(a) CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 2 years 

12 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

13 Secretary shall establish concussion management 

14 guidelines (hereinafter in this section referred to as 

15 the ‘guidelines’) that address the prevention, identi16 fication, treatment, and management of concussions 

17 in school-aged children, including standards for stu18 dent athletes to return to play after a concussion. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONFERENCE.—The Secretary shall con20 vene a conference of medical, athletic, and edu21 cational stakeholders for purposes of assisting in the 

22 establishment of the guidelines. 

23 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO STATES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After establishing the 

2 guidelines, the Secretary may make grants to States 

3 for purposes of— 

4 ‘‘(A) adopting, disseminating, and ensuring 

5 the implementation by elementary and sec6 ondary schools of the guidelines; and 

7 ‘‘(B) funding implementation by elemen8 tary and secondary schools of computerized pre9 season baseline and post-injury neuropsycholog10 ical testing for student athletes. 

11 ‘‘(2) GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re13 ceive a grant under this section, the Secretary 

14 shall require a State to submit an application to 

15 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

16 and containing such information as the Sec17 retary shall require. 

18 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM CONTENTS.—The Secretary 

19 shall require that an application of a State 

20 under subparagraph (A) shall contain at a min21 imum— 

22 ‘‘(i) a description of the strategies the 

23 State will use to disseminate and ensure 

24 the implementation by elementary and sec25 ondary schools of the guidelines, including 


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1 any strategic partnerships that the State 

2 will form; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) an agreement by the State to pe4 riodically provide data with respect to the 

5 incidence of concussions and second impact 

6 syndrome among student athletes in the 

7 State. 

8 ‘‘(3) UTILIZATION OF HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

9 ASSOCIATIONS AND LOCAL CHAPTERS OF NATIONAL

10 BRAIN INJURY ORGANIZATIONS.—In disseminating 

11 and ensuring the implementation by elementary and 

12 secondary schools of the guidelines pursuant to a 

13 grant under this section, the Secretary shall require 

14 States to utilize, to the extent practicable, applicable 

15 expertise and services offered by high school sports 

16 associations and local chapters of national brain in17 jury organizations in such States. 

18 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—In carrying 

19 out activities under this section, the Secretary shall coordi20 nate in an appropriate manner with the heads of other 

21 Federal departments and agencies that carry out activities 

22 related to concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. 

23 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GUIDELINES.— 

25 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:02 Dec 05, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2840.IS S2840

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1 ment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to 

2 Congress a report on the implementation of sub3 section (a). 

4 ‘‘(2) GRANT PROGRAM AND DATA COLLEC5 TION.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the 

6 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit 

7 to Congress a report on the implementation of sub8 section (b), including the number of States that have 

9 adopted the guidelines, the number of elementary 

10 and secondary schools that have implemented com11 puterized pre-season baseline and post-injury neuro12 psychological testing for student athletes, and the 

13 data collected with respect to the incidence of con14 cussions and second impact syndrome among stu15 dent athletes. 

16 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

17 definitions apply: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘school-aged child’ means an in19 dividual who is 5 years of age through 18 years of 

20 age. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘second impact syndrome’ means 

22 catastrophic or fatal events that occur when an indi23 vidual suffers a concussion while symptomatic and 

24 healing from a previous concussion. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

2 of Health and Human Services, acting through the 

3 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre4 vention. 

5 ‘‘(4) The term ‘State’ means each of the 50 

6 States and the District of Columbia. 

7 ‘‘(5) The term ‘student athlete’ means a school8 aged child in any of the grades 6th through 12th 

9 who participates in a sport through such child’s ele10 mentary or secondary school. 

11 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

12 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro13 priated to the Secretary $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 

14 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

15 2011 through 2014.’’. 

Æ 


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