IIB 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 669 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the 
health of children and help better understand and en-
hance awareness about unexpected sudden death in early 
life. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:26 Sep 10, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H669.RFS
H669
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
HR 669 RFS 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sudden Unexpected 
Death Data Enhancement and Awareness Act’’. 
SEC. 2. STILLBIRTH AND SUDDEN DEATHS IN THE YOUNG. 
The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert-
ing after section 317L of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–13) 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 317L–1. STILLBIRTH AND SUDDEN DEATHS IN THE 
YOUNG. 
‘‘(a) STILLBIRTH ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary, act-
ing through the Director of the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, shall continue to carry out activities 
of the Centers relating to stillbirth, including the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) SURVEILLANCE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
provide for surveillance efforts to collect thor-
ough, complete, and high-quality epidemiologic 
information on stillbirths, including through the 
utilization of existing surveillance systems (in-
cluding the National Vital Statistics System 
(NVSS) and other appropriately equipped birth 
defects surveillance programs). 
‘‘(B) STANDARD PROTOCOL FOR SURVEIL-
LANCE.—The Secretary, in consultation with 
qualified individuals and organizations deter-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:26 Sep 10, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H669.RFS
H669
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
HR 669 RFS 
mined appropriate by the Secretary, to include 
representatives of health and advocacy organi-
zations, State and local governments, public 
health officials, and health researchers, shall— 
‘‘(i) provide for the continued develop-
ment and dissemination of a standard pro-
tocol for stillbirth data collection and sur-
veillance; and 
‘‘(ii) not less than every 5 years, re-
view and, as appropriate, update such pro-
tocol. 
‘‘(2) POSTMORTEM
DATA
COLLECTION
AND 
EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in consultation with 
qualified individuals and organizations determined 
appropriate by the Secretary, to include representa-
tives of health professional organizations, shall— 
‘‘(A) upon the enactment of this section, 
and not less than every 5 years thereafter, re-
view existing guidelines for increasing and im-
proving the quality and completeness of post-
mortem stillbirth evaluation and related data 
collection, including conducting and reimburs-
ing autopsies, placental histopathology, and cy-
togenetic testing; and 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:26 Sep 10, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H669.RFS
H669
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
HR 669 RFS 
‘‘(B) develop strategies for implementing 
such guidelines and addressing any barriers to 
implementation of such guidelines. 
‘‘(b) SUDDEN UNEXPECTED INFANT DEATH ACTIVI-
TIES.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall continue 
to carry out activities of the Centers relating to sudden 
unexpected infant death (SUID), including the following: 
‘‘(1) SURVEILLANCE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
provide for surveillance efforts to gather 
sociodemographic, death scene investigation, 
clinical history, and autopsy information on 
SUID cases through the review of existing 
records on SUID, including through the utiliza-
tion of existing surveillance systems (including 
the national child death review case reporting 
system and SUID case registries). 
‘‘(B) STANDARD PROTOCOL FOR SURVEIL-
LANCE.—The Secretary, in consultation with 
qualified individuals and organizations deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretary, to include 
representatives of health and advocacy organi-
zations, State and local governments, and pub-
lic health officials, shall— 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:26 Sep 10, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H669.RFS
H669
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
HR 669 RFS 
‘‘(i) provide for the continued develop-
ment and dissemination of a standard pro-
tocol for SUID data reporting and surveil-
lance; and 
‘‘(ii) not less than every 5 years, re-
view and, as appropriate, update such pro-
tocol. 
‘‘(C) GOALS
FOR
ENHANCING
SURVEIL-
LANCE.—In carrying out activities under this 
subsection, the Secretary shall seek to accom-
plish the following goals: 
‘‘(i) Collecting thorough, complete, 
and high-quality death scene investigation 
data, clinical history, and autopsy findings. 
‘‘(ii) Collecting standardized informa-
tion about the environmental and medical 
circumstances of death (including the sleep 
environment and quality of the death scene 
investigation). 
‘‘(iii) Supporting multidisciplinary in-
fant death reviews, such as those per-
formed by child death review committees, 
to collect and review the information and 
classify and characterize SUID using a 
standardized classification system. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:26 Sep 10, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H669.RFS
H669
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
HR 669 RFS 
‘‘(iv) Facilitating the sharing of infor-
mation to improve the public reporting of 
surveillance and vital statistics describing 
the epidemiology of SUID. 
‘‘(2) STANDARD PROTOCOL FOR DEATH SCENE 
INVESTIGATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con-
sultation with forensic pathologists, medical ex-
aminers, coroners, medicolegal death scene in-
vestigators, law enforcement personnel, emer-
gency medical technicians and paramedics, pub-
lic health agencies, and other individuals and 
organizations determined appropriate by the 
Secretary, shall— 
‘‘(i) provide for the continued dissemi-
nation of a standard death scene investiga-
tion protocol; and 
‘‘(ii) not less than every 5 years, re-
view and, as appropriate, update such pro-
tocol. 
‘‘(B) CONTENT
OF
DEATH
SCENE
PRO-
TOCOL.—The protocol disseminated under sub-
paragraph (A) shall include information on— 
‘‘(i) the current and past medical his-
tory of the infant; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:26 Sep 10, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H669.RFS
H669
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS