I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6122 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a 
comprehensive policy on the management of pain experienced by veterans 
enrolled for health care services provided by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2008 
Mr. WALZ of Minnesota (for himself, Mr. FILNER, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. HALL 
of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. BRADY 
of Pennsylvania, Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 
MICHAUD, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 
HARE, Mr. OBERSTAR, and Mr. RAMSTAD) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and 
implement a comprehensive policy on the management 
of pain experienced by veterans enrolled for health care 
services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Veterans Pain Care 
Act of 2008’’. 
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SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE POLICY ON PAIN MANAGEMENT. 
(a) COMPREHENSIVE POLICY REQUIRED.—Not later 
than October 1, 2008, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall develop and implement a comprehensive policy on the 
management of pain experienced by veterans enrolled for 
health care services provided by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs. 
(b) SCOPE OF POLICY.—The policy required by sub-
section (a) shall cover each of the following: 
(1) The departmentwide management of acute 
and chronic pain experienced by veterans. 
(2) The standard of care for pain management 
to be used throughout the Department. 
(3) The consistent application of pain assess-
ments to be used throughout the Department. 
(4) The assurance of prompt and appropriate 
pain care treatment and management by the Depart-
ment, systemwide, when medically necessary. 
(5) The Department’s program of research re-
lated to acute and chronic pain suffered by veterans, 
including pain attributable to central and peripheral 
nervous system damage characteristic of injuries in-
curred in modern warfare. 
(6) The Department’s program of pain care 
education and training for health care personnel of 
the Department. 
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(7) The Department’s program of patient edu-
cation for veterans suffering from acute or chronic 
pain and their families. 
(c) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall revise the policy 
developed under subsection (a) on a periodic basis in ac-
cordance with experience and evolving best practice guide-
lines. 
(d) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall develop the 
policy developed under subsection (a), and revise such pol-
icy under subsection (c), in consultation with veterans 
service organizations and other organizations with exper-
tise in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and manage-
ment of pain. 
(e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the completion and initial imple-
mentation of the policy under subsection (a) and on 
October 1 of every fiscal year thereafter through fis-
cal year 2018, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Vererans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 
Representatives a report on the implementation of 
the policy developed under subsection (a). 
(2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para-
graph (1) shall include the following: 
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(A) A description of the policy developed 
and implemented under subsection (a) and any 
revisions to such policy under subsection (c). 
(B) A description of the performance 
measures used to determine the effectiveness of 
such policy in improving pain care for veterans 
systemwide. 
(C) An assessment of the adequacy of the 
Department’s pain management services based 
on a survey of patients managed in Department 
clinics. 
(D) An assessment of the Department’s re-
search programs relevant to the treatment of 
the types of acute and chronic pain suffered by 
veterans. 
(E) An assessment of the training provided 
to Department health care personnel with re-
spect to the diagnosis, treatment, and manage-
ment of acute and chronic pain. 
(F) An assessment of the Department’s 
pain care related patient education programs. 
(f) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 
In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 
means any organization recognized by the Secretary for 
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the representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 
38, United States Code. 
Æ 
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