I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 832
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of research
and education regarding menopause and related conditions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 25, 1997
Mr. STEARNS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for
a program of research and education regarding meno-
pause and related conditions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Menopause Outreach,
Research, and Education Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM REGARDING WOMEN’S MIDLIFE HEALTH
CARE.
Section 445H of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 285e–10) is amended to read as follows:
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MENOPAUSE AND OTHER AGING PROCESSES REGARDING
WOMEN; RESEARCH CENTERS
‘‘SEC. 445H. (a) The Director of the Institute, in ad-
dition to other special functions specified in section 444
and in cooperation with the Directors of the other national
research institutes and agencies of the National Institutes
of Health, shall conduct and support research into—
‘‘(1) the aging processes of women, with par-
ticular emphasis given to the effects of menopause
and the physiological and behavioral changes occur-
ring during the transition from premenopause to
postmenopause; and
‘‘(2) the diagnosis, disorders, and complications
related to aging and loss of ovarian hormones in
women.
‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Institute, after consulta-
tion with the industry with the advisory council for the
Institute, shall provide for the development of expansion
of not less than 5 centers for—
‘‘(A) research on menopause; and
‘‘(B) research on conditions arising from the di-
minished or complete cessation of the functioning of
the ovaries, whether occurring naturally or otherwise
(which conditions are in this subsection referred to
as ‘menopausal health conditions’).
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‘‘(2) Each center assisted under this subsection
shall—
‘‘(A) use the facilities of a single institution or
a consortium of cooperating institutions, and meet
such qualifications as may be prescribed by the Di-
rector of the Institute;
‘‘(B) conduct basic and clinical research into
the natural history of menopause in order to im-
prove the state of medical knowledge or methods re-
garding the cause, diagnosis, early detection, preven-
tion, control, and treatment of menopausal health
conditions;
‘‘(C) develop multidisciplinary models of health
care regarding menopause and menopausal health
conditions;
‘‘(D) conduct educational and training pro-
grams on menopause and menopausal health condi-
tions for physicians, scientists, and other health and
allied health professionals;
‘‘(E) conduct information and continuing edu-
cation programs for physicians and other health and
allied health professionals who provide care for pa-
tients with such conditions; and
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‘‘(F) conduct programs for the dissemination to
the general public of information on menopause and
menopausal health conditions.
‘‘(3) In carrying out paragraph (2)(B), the Director
of the Institute shall ensure that centers assisted under
this subsection—
‘‘(A) conduct research on hormonal treatments
for menopausal health conditions, research on non-
hormonal treatments of symptoms arising from such
conditions, and research on the relationship between
such 
conditions 
and 
cardiovascular 
disease,
osteoporosis, bone fractures, bladder conditions,
breast and uterine cancers, and other conditions that
research indicates may be relevant; and
‘‘(B) conduct research to determine whether
and to what extent differences may exist, with re-
spect to menopause and menopausal health condi-
tions, among various socioeconomic groups, ethnic
groups, and racial groups.
‘‘(4) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Director of
the Institute, in consultation with the Director of NIH
and the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Re-
search, shall establish a program to develop protocols for
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the prevention and treatment of menopausal health condi-
tions and other conditions regarding women’s midlife
health.
‘‘(5) A center may use funds provided under para-
graph (1) to provide stipends for health professionals en-
rolled in educational or training programs described in
paragraph (2)(D).
‘‘(6) The Director shall ensure that the activities of
centers assisted under this subsection are coordinated
among the centers.
‘‘(7) The Director of the Institute shall, to the extent
practicable, provide for an equitable geographical distribu-
tion of centers assisted under this subsection.
‘‘(8) Support of a center under this subsection may
be for a period of not to exceed five years. Such period
may be extended by the Director of the Institute for one
or more additional periods of not more than five years if
the operations of such center have been reviewed by an
appropriate technical and scientific peer review group
established by the Director and if such group has
recommended to the Director that such period should be
extended.’’.
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