I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 746
To allow patients to receive any medical treatment they want under certain
conditions, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 13, 1997
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.
PICKETT, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. STUMP, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ARCHER, Mr.
OWENS, Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. CAMPBELL,
Mr. RAHALL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. ROHRABACHER,
Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. HEFLEY,
Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. COX of California, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. FURSE, Mr.
ACKERMAN, Mr. DREIER, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of
Texas, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. RUSH, Mr. TALENT, Mr. WYNN, Mr. FILNER,
Mr. DEUTSCH, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To allow patients to receive any medical treatment they
want under certain conditions, 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 ‘‘Access to Medical
Treatment Act’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) ADVERTISING CLAIMS.—The term ‘‘adver-
tising claims’’ means any representations made or
suggested by statement, word, design, device, sound,
or any combination thereof with respect to a medical
treatment.
(2) DANGER.—The term ‘‘danger’’ means any
negative reaction that—
(A) causes serious harm;
(B) occurred as a result of a method of
medical treatment;
(C) would not otherwise have occurred;
and
(D) is more serious than reactions experi-
enced with routinely used medical treatments
for the same medical condition or conditions.
(3) DEVICE.—The term ‘‘device’’ has the same
meaning given such term in section 201(h) of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
321(h)).
(4) DRUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ has the same
meaning given such term in section 201(g)(1) of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
321(g)(1)).
(5) FOOD.—The term ‘‘food’’—
(A) has the same meaning given such term
in section 201(f) of the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(f)); and
(B) includes a dietary supplement as de-
fined in section 201(ff) of such Act.
(6) HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER.—The term
‘‘health care practitioner’’ means a physician or an-
other person who is legally authorized to provide
health professional services in the State in which the
services are provided.
(7) LABEL.—The term ‘‘label’’ has the same
meaning given such term in section 201(k) of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
321(k)) and includes labeling as defined in section
201(m) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 321(m)).
(8) LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘‘legal
representative’’ means a parent or an individual who
qualifies as a legal guardian under State law.
(9) SELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ means a per-
son, company, or organization that receives payment
related to a medical treatment of a patient of a
health practitioner, except that this term does not
apply to a health care practitioner who receives pay-
ment from an individual or representative of such in-
dividual for the administration of a medical treat-
ment to such individual.
(10) MEDICAL TREATMENT.—The term ‘‘medi-
cal treatment’’ means any food, drug, device, or pro-
cedure that is used and intended as a cure, mitiga-
tion, treatment, or prevention of disease.
SEC. 3. ACCESS TO MEDICAL TREATMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, and except as provided in subsection (b), an
individual shall have the right to be treated by a health
care practitioner with any medical treatment (including a
medical treatment that is not approved, certified, or li-
censed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services)
that such individual desires or the legal representative of
such individual authorizes if—
(1) such practitioner has personally examined
such individual and agrees to treat such individual;
and
(2) the administration of such treatment does
not violate licensing laws.
(b) 
MEDICAL
TREATMENT
REQUIREMENTS.—A
health care practitioner may provide any medical treat-
ment to an individual described in subsection (a) if—