IV
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 385
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Health and
Human Services should conduct or support research on certain tests
to screen for ovarian cancer, and Federal health care programs and
group and individual health plans should cover the tests if demonstrated
to be effective, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 23, 2002
Mr. ISRAEL (for himself and Ms. DELAURO) submitted the following concur-
rent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Secretary
of Health and Human Services should conduct or sup-
port research on certain tests to screen for ovarian can-
cer, and Federal health care programs and group and
individual health plans should cover the tests if dem-
onstrated to be effective, and for other purposes.
Whereas ovarian cancer is a serious and underrecognized
threat to women’s health;
Whereas ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the gynecologic can-
cers, is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among
women in the United States;
•HCON 385 IH
Whereas ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 57 women in the
United States;
Whereas approximately 50 percent of the women in the
United States diagnosed with ovarian cancer die as a re-
sult of the cancer within 5 years;
Whereas ovarian cancer is readily treatable when it is de-
tected in the beginning stages before it has spread be-
yond the ovaries, but the vast majority of cases are not
diagnosed until the advanced stages when the cancer has
spread beyond the ovaries;
Whereas in cases where ovarian cancer is detected in the be-
ginning stages, more than 90 percent of women survive
longer than 5 years;
Whereas only 25 percent of ovarian cancer cases in the
United States are diagnosed in the beginning stages;
Whereas in cases where ovarian cancer is diagnosed in the
advanced stages, the chance of 5-year survival is only
about 25 percent; and
Whereas ovarian cancer may be difficult to diagnose because
symptoms are easily confused with other diseases and be-
cause there is no reliable, easy-to-administer screening
tool: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, acting through the Director of the National In-
stitutes of Health—
(A) should conduct or support research on
the effectiveness of the medical screening tech-
•HCON 385 IH
nique of using proteomic patterns in blood
serum to identify ovarian cancer, including the
effectiveness of using the technique in combina-
tion with other screening methods for ovarian
cancer; and
(B) should continue to conduct or support
other promising ovarian cancer research that
may lead to breakthroughs in screening tech-
niques;
(2) the Secretary should submit to the Congress
a report on the research described in paragraph
(1)(A), including an analysis of the effectiveness of
the medical screening technique for identifying ovar-
ian cancer; and
(3) if the research demonstrates that the med-
ical screening technique is effective for identifying
ovarian cancer, Federal health care programs and
group and individual health plans should cover the
technique.
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