Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act

Bill: 110-s-1183
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2007-04-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Caregivers
Clinical trials
Clinics
Communication in medicine
Communication in science
Community health services
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Continuing education
Data banks
Department of Health and Human Services
Disabled
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to health facilities
Federal aid to research
Government Operations and Politics
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Health information systems
Health planning
Higher education
Home care services
Labor and Employment
Medical education
Medical research
Mental health services
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Nervous system diseases
Neurology
Nonprofit organizations
Paralysis
Preventive medicine
Quality of life
Rehabilitation of the disabled
Research centers
Research grants
Science, Technology, Communications
Self-help devices for the disabled
Social Welfare
Spinal cord injuries
Stroke

Summary:
action_date: 2007-04-23
text: 
Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to permit the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): (1) acting through the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to expand and coordinate NIH activities on paralysis research; (2) to award grants to plan, establish, improve, and provide basic operating support for Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Research Consortia; (3) to educate and disseminate information and receive public comment on NIH programs and research regarding paralysis; (4) acting through the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, to expand and coordinate NIH research with implications for enhancing daily function for persons with paralysis; and (5) to make grants to plan, establish, improve, and provide basic operating support for multicenter clinical trial networks to design clinical rehabilitation intervention protocols and measures of outcomes on paralysis. 
 
Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to study the health challenges associated with paralysis and other physical disabilities and carry out projects and interventions to improve the quality of life and long-term health status of individuals with such conditions. 
Permits the Secretary to award grants for activities related to paralysis, including to: (1) establish paralysis registries; and (2) disseminate information to the public. 

action_date: 2007-08-03
text: 
Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act &#150; 
Title I: Paralysis Research
 - (Sec. 101) Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop mechanisms to coordinate NIH paralysis research and rehabilitation activities in order to further advance and avoid duplication of such activities.

Authorizes the Director to make grants for the cost of planning, establishing, improving, and providing basic operating support for consortia in paralysis research. Requires the Director to designate each consortium funded as a Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Research Consortium. Authorizes such consortia to: (1) conduct basic, translational, and clinical paralysis research; (2) facilitate and enhance the dissemination of clinical and scientific findings; and (3) replicate the findings of consortia members or other researchers for scientific and translational purposes. Authorizes the Director to provide for a mechanism to educate and disseminate information on NIH paralysis programs and research activities, through which the Director can receive comments from the public.

Title II: Paralysis Rehabilitation Research and Care
 - (Sec. 201) Requires the Director to award grants for multicenter networks of clinical sites that will collaborate to design clinical rehabilitation intervention protocols and measures of outcomes on forms of paralysis that result from central nervous system trauma, disorders, and/or stroke. Authorizes each network to: (1) focus on areas of key scientific concern, including improving functional mobility; and (2) replicate the findings of network members for scientific and translation purposes.

Title III: Improving Quality of Life for Persons with Paralysis and Other Physical Disabilities
 - (Sec. 301) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) study the unique health challenges associated with paralysis and other physical disabilities; and (2) carry out projects and interventions to improve the quality of life and long-term health status of persons with paralysis and other physical disabilities, including developing a national paralysis and physical disability quality of life action plan and establishing a population-based database that may be used for longitudinal and other research on paralysis and other disabling conditions.

Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to state and local health disability agencies to: (1) establish a population-based database that may be used for longitudinal and other research on paralysis and other disabling conditions; (2) develop comprehensive paralysis and other physical action plans and activities; (3) assist state-based programs in collaborating with people with paralysis and other physical disabilities and their constituent organization; (4) coordinate paralysis and physical disability activities with existing state-based disability and health programs; (5) provide education and training opportunities and programs for health professionals and allied caregivers; and (6) develop, test, evaluate, and replicate effective intervention programs to maintain or improve health and quality of life. Allows the Secretary to award grants to private health and disability organizations to: (1) disseminate information to the public; (2) improve access to services for persons living with paralysis and other physical disabilities and their caregivers; (3) test model intervention programs to improve health and quality of life; and (4) coordinate existing services with state-based disability and health programs.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2011.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-08-03
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 326.
action_date: 2007-08-03
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Kennedy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2007-08-03
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Kennedy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2007-07-25
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2007-04-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-04-23
text: Introduced in Senate