zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Strengthening Protections for Children and Communities From Disease Clusters Act - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) develop, publish, and update guidelines on an approach to investigate suspected or potential disease clusters, environmental pollutants or toxic substances associated with such clusters, or potential causes of such clusters; (2) establish and operate Regional Disease Cluster Information and Response Centers and Regional Disease Cluster Information and Response Teams; (3) ensure that the Office of Children's Health Protection has a prominent role in developing and updating such guidelines and in establishing and operating such Centers and Teams; (4) establish Community Disease Cluster Advisory Committees to provide oversight, guidance, and advice relating to such investigations; (5) provide support to individuals on such Teams and Committees through grants and cooperative agreements with institutions of higher education; (6) compile and update a publicly available, online database that provides information relating to disease clusters; and (7) use available authorities and programs to compile, research, and analyze information generated by actions authorized under this Act.

Authorizes any person to submit a petition to the EPA Administrator, the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that requests that a Response Team conduct an investigation or take action to address the potential causes of disease clusters.

Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to any group of individuals that may be affected by such clusters.

Date: 2013-01-22
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Environmental protection
Ethical Stem Cell Research Tax Credit Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 30% of qualified stem cell research expenses paid or incurred in a taxable year. Defines "qualified stem cell research expenses" as expenses for carrying out basic and applied research to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, testing, and human clinical use of stem cells that may result in improved understanding of or treatments for diseases and other adverse health conditions. Prohibits a tax credit for any research expenses that may involve: (1) the creation of a human embryo for research purposes; (2) the destruction of or discarding of, or risk of injury to, a human embryo; or (3) the use of any stem cell for prohibited purposes.

Date: 2013-01-24
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Taxation
Citrus Disease Research and Development Trust Fund Act of 2013 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish the Citrus Disease Research and Development Trust Fund, consisting of revenues from duties paid on imported citrus or citrus products, to support scientific research, technical assistance, and development activities to combat both domestic and invasive citrus diseases and pests harming the United States.

 Establishes the Citrus Disease Research and Development Trust Fund Advisory Board.

Makes Fund amounts available to the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a coordinated program of research and product development relating to: (1) scientific research of both domestic and invasive diseases and pests afflicting the citrus industry; and (2) support for the dissemination and commercialization of relevant information, techniques, and technologies discovered through Fund research or other research projects intended to solve problems caused by citrus production diseases and invasive pests.

Requires the President to notify certain congressional committees before entering into a trade agreement that could result in a decrease in the amount of: (1) duties paid on imported citrus or citrus products, and (2) funds transferred into the Fund.

Prescribes a formula for required estimated tax payments otherwise due in each of the quarters of 2018 from corporations with assets of at least $1 billion.

Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) to extend certain customs users fees for the processing of merchandise entered into the United States between October 23, 2021, and November 6, 2021, and other specified customs users fees for merchandise entered between October 30, 2021, and November 13, 2021.

Date: 2013-02-04
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
National Pediatric Research Network Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in carrying out the Pediatric Research Initiative, to act through the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to provide for the establishment of a National Pediatric Research Network.

Authorizes the Director of the Institute to award funding to public or private nonprofit entities for: (1) planning, establishing, or strengthening pediatric research consortia; and (2) providing basic operating support for such consortia, including to meet unmet needs for pediatric research through basic, clinical and behavioral translational research and the training of researchers in pediatric research techniques. Authorizes the Director of NIH to make awards for not more than 20 pediatric research consortia, which must be formed from a collaboration of cooperating institutions, coordinated by a lead institution, agree to disseminate scientific findings, and meet requirements prescribed by the Director of NIH. Allows such support to be for a period of five years, with additional extensions at the discretion of the Director of NIH.

Requires the Director of NIH to provide for the coordination of activities among the consortia and to require the periodic preparation and submission of reports on their activities. Requires each pediatric research consortium receiving an award to assist the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the establishment or expansion of patient registries and other surveillance systems as appropriate and upon request by the CDC.

Requires the Director of NIH to ensure that an appropriate number of such awards are awarded to consortia that agree to: (1) focus primarily on pediatric rare diseases or conditions; and (2) conduct or coordinate multi-site clinical trials of therapies for, or approaches to, the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of pediatric rare diseases or conditions.

Requires the Director of NIH to establish a data coordinating center to: (1) distribute such findings; (2) provide assistance in the design and conduct of collaborative research projects and the management, analysis, and storage of data associated with such projects; and (3) organize and conduct multi-site monitoring activities.

Requires the Director of NIH to: (1) require the data coordinating center to provide regular reports to the Director of NIH and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) on research conducted by consortia, including information on enrollment in clinical trials and the allocation of resources with respect to such research; and (2) incorporate such information into NIH's biennial reports.

Date: 2013-02-28
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS Act - Denies any person the exclusive right to manufacture, distribute, sell, or use in interstate commerce a qualifying treatment for HIV/AIDS, or to a manufacturing process for such a treatment, including the exclusive right to rely on health registration data or the 30-month stay-of-effectiveness period for Orange Book patents. Prescribes remuneration, in the form of prize payments from a Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS, in lieu of such market exclusivity.

Exempts from this elimination of exclusive rights any dual use product that is a qualifying treatment for HIV/AIDS which also has a significant use for other diseases, but only with respect to its use for other diseases. Applies the elimination of exclusive rights with respect to a qualifying HIV/AIDS treatment even in a dual use product.

Establishes the Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to designate a Prize Fund Director to administer the Fund.

Directs the Prize Fund Director to award prize payments for medical innovation relating to a qualifying treatment for HIV/AIDS, or a new manufacturing process for such a treatment, to: (1) the first person to receive market clearance with respect to the drug or biological product; (2) the holder of the patent with respect to a manufacturing process; or (3) persons or communities that as an open source contribution openly shared knowledge, data, materials, and technology on a royalty-free and nondiscriminatory basis.

Allows the Prize Fund Director to authorize multiple nonprofit intermediaries to manage Fund payments to reward projects for: (1) interim research and development of new qualifying treatments for HIV/AIDS, or (2) open source dividend prizes.

Establishes an annual fee for health insurers to fund this Act.

Establishes the Donor Innovation Prize Fund to enable the Secretary to reward owners and developers of products that permit open competition for low-cost generic drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

Date: 2013-03-20
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Collaborative Academic Research Efforts for Tourette Syndrome Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH programs and activities regarding Tourette syndrome.

Requires the Director to develop a system to collect data on Tourette syndrome, including epidemiological information regarding its incidence and prevalence in the United States, primary data, and data on the availability of medical and social services for individuals with Tourette syndrome and their families.

 Requires the Director to award grants and contracts to public or nonprofit private entities to pay costs of planning, establishing, improving, and providing basic operating support for between four and six centers of excellence in different regions of the United States to conduct basic and clinical research on Tourette syndrome.

Requires the Director to designate a portion of the amounts made available to carry out NIH programs and activities for a fiscal year to carry out programs and activities with respect to Tourette syndrome.

Date: 2013-03-21
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2013 - Establishes the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020.

Directs the Commission to identify, recommend, and promote initiatives, partnerships, and research within the public and private sectors, basic and applied sciences, and epidemiology that can be turned into strategies to prevent breast cancer and breast cancer metastasis while giving priority to those that are: (1) not prioritized within the public sector, and (2) unlikely to be achieved by the private sector due to technical and financial uncertainty.

Requires the Commission to: (1) submit within six months to the President and to the relevant congressional committees a description of the Commission's strategic plan; (2) submit an annual report to the President, Congress, and the public; and (3) ensure that its activities are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs and laboratories of other government agencies.

Directs the President to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine to evaluate the Commission's progress.

Terminates the Commission on June 1, 2020.

Date: 2013-05-06
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish a working group made up of representatives from various Institutes and Centers within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to update and streamline NIH rehabilitation research priorities, and (2) enter into interagency agreements relating to the coordination of rehabilitation research conducted by agencies outside of HHS.

Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the feasibility of implementing the changes proposed in the Blue Ribbon Panel Recommendations on Rehabilitation Research.

Date: 2013-05-22
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Directs the United States Postal Service (USPS) to issue and sell an Alzheimer's Disease Research Semipostal Stamp.

Requires proceeds from the sale of the stamp to be transferred to the National Institutes of Health.

Requires the stamp to be made available to the public for six years.

Date: 2013-06-04
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Scleroderma Research and Awareness Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand, intensify, and coordinate the Institute's activities with respect to scleroderma, with particular emphasis on: (1) research focused on the etiology of scleroderma and the development of new treatment options, (2) clinical research to evaluate new treatment options, (3) basic research on the relationship between scleroderma and secondary conditions, (4) establishment of scleroderma patient registries, and (5) support for training of new clinicians and investigators with expertise in scleroderma.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to carry out an educational campaign to increase public awareness of scleroderma.

Date: 2013-06-27
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research and Quality of Life Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible entities to establish pilot programs to develop, study, or evaluate model systems for monitoring and caring for childhood cancer survivors.

Authorizes the Secretary to convene a Workforce Development Collaborative on Medical and Psychosocial Care for Pediatric Cancer to establish a plan to meet specified objectives relating to medical and psychosocial care workforce development, including: (1) disseminating to health care educators information relevant to providing medical and psychosocial services to individuals with pediatric cancers, (2) adapting curricula for continuing education of the existing workforce, and (3) strengthening the emphasis on psychosocial health care in educational accreditation standards and professional licensing and certification.

Date: 2013-06-27
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Next Generation Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Next Generation of Research Initiative in the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for coordination of all NIH policies and programs aimed at promoting and providing opportunities for new researchers.

Requires the Director to: (1) promote existing policies and programs to improve opportunities for new researchers; (2) develop or modify policies, including to strengthen mentorship programs and enhance diversity efforts; and (3) request the National Academy of Sciences, as part of the required studies concerning biomedical and behavioral research personnel, to conduct a comprehensive study and report on policies affecting the next generation of researchers.

Date: 2013-09-26
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
American Cures Act - Establishes a Biomedical Research Fund to be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for an expanded and sustained national investment in biomedical research.

Requires amounts to be transferred from the Fund for each fiscal year to accounts related to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Defense (DOD) health program, and the medical and prosthetics research program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that funding for such programs and agencies does not fall below 105% of the level of funding provided for the preceding fiscal year and an additional amount to account for any increases in the Gross Domestic Product for the year involved.

Requires that amounts appropriated for each of such programs and agencies for a fiscal year be not be less than the amounts appropriated for FY2014. Authorizes and appropriates to the Fund such sums as necessary in each fiscal year to enable such transfers.

Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act to exempt the Fund from any sequestration order issued under such Act.

Date: 2014-03-12
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Regenerative Medicine Promotion Act of 2014 - Requires the Comptroller General to submit to Congress a report identifying all ongoing federal programs and activities regarding regenerative medicine.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Regenerative Medicine Coordinating Council, which shall:

 prepare a national strategy to support research into regenerative medicine and enable the development of drugs, biological products, medical devices, and biomaterials for use in regenerative medicine; develop national goals for regenerative medicine research and product development; prepare a plan specifying priorities for research into regenerative medicine; identify sources of funding for research into regenerative medicine and areas where such funding is inadequate or duplicative; make recommendations regarding federal policies to support development and marketing of regenerative medicine products; develop consensus standards regarding scientific issues critical to regulator approval of regenerative medicine products; and determine the need for establishing centers of excellence or consortia to further advance regenerative medicine. Directs the Council to: (1) adopt procedures to ensure the receipt of public input; and (2) submit an annual report on its activities to Congress, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA).

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Independent Innovator and Repurposing Act - Establishes procedures under which the term of an unexpired patent claiming a method of using a biological product shall be extended for five years from its original expiration date.

 Requires an application for such an extension to demonstrate that: (1) the patent was issued to an independent innovator, and (2) the owner of record is the independent innovator or a small business (with fewer than 500 employees and which is not affiliated with the holder of the marketing application approved under licensing requirements of the Public Health Service Act for the commercial marketing of such biological product) in which the independent innovator has an ownership interest.

Defines "independent innovator" as a person or entity that obtains a method of use patent for a biological product and is not, at the time of invention or patent filing, affiliated with the holder of an approved application for the commercial marketing of the product.

Date: 2014-03-24
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Commerce
Accelerating Biomedical Research Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2015-FY2021 to accommodate increases in appropriations to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Family Asthma Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collaborate with state and local health departments to: (1) conduct activities regarding asthma, including deterring the harmful consequences of uncontrolled asthma, and disseminating health education and information regarding prevention of asthma episodes and strategies for managing asthma; and (2) develop state plans incorporating public health responses to reduce the burden of asthma, particularly regarding disproportionately affected populations.

 Revises and expands requirements for asthma surveillance activities.

 Requires the Director to coordinate data collection activities to maximize the comparability of results.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit an assessment of current activities related to asthma prevention, management and surveillance along with recommendations for the future direction of asthma activities.

Date: 2014-09-15
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Reducing Disparities Using Care Models and Education Act of 2014 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to contract with the Institute of Medicine to study health disparities, existing programs and policies intended to reduce disparities, and priorities for, and expansion of, programs targeting disparities.

Requires the Secretary to develop guidelines for entities to develop and implement programs to reduce health disparities. Directs the Secretary to incorporate these guidelines into HHS activities.

Authorizes the Secretary to award grants for programs to reduce health disparities.

Requires the Innovation Center of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test a payment and service delivery model that includes incentives for reducing health disparities.

Date: 2014-09-17
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Collaborative Academic Research Efforts for Tourette Syndrome Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH research on Tourette syndrome.

Requires the Director to develop a system to collect data on Tourette syndrome, including epidemiological information, primary data, and data on the availability of medical and social services for individuals with Tourette syndrome and their families.

 Requires the Director to award grants and contracts to public or nonprofit private entities to support four to six Collaborative Research Centers for Tourette Syndrome in different regions to conduct basic and clinical research on Tourette syndrome.

 Requires the Director to award grants for research on the full range of symptoms within the Tourette syndrome clinical spectrum and the efficacy of treatment options for particular patient subpopulations.

Requires the Director to designate a portion of the amounts made available to carry out NIH programs and activities for a fiscal year to carry out programs and activities with respect to Tourette syndrome.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate reported version is repeated here.)

Adding Ebola to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to add filoviruses, a family of viruses that includes the Ebola virus, to the list of tropical diseases under the priority review voucher program, which awards vouchers to sponsors of human drug applications that are approved to prevent or treat tropical diseases. (A voucher entitles the holder to have a future human drug application acted upon by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within six months.)

Changes the process by which infectious diseases that do not significantly impact developed nations and disproportionately affect poor and marginalized populations can be designated as tropical diseases from rulemaking to order of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Allows priority review vouchers to be transferred between sponsors of human drug applications any number of times.

Reduces from 365 days to 90 days the advance notice required before submitting a human drug application subject to a priority review voucher.

Date: 2014-11-12
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Dormant Therapies Act of 2014 - Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to designate medicines being, or intended to be, investigated to address unmet medical needs as dormant therapies. Gives a dormant therapy a 15-year protection period during which no drug can be approved by relying on the approval of the dormant therapy absent a right of reference from the holder of the approved application for the dormant therapy.

Requires the sponsor of a potential dormant therapy to have a clinical plan to investigate the medicine and intend to file an application for approval or licensure of the medicine as a new drug or biological product. Prohibits the active moiety of the medicine from being the same as an active moiety in a drug or highly similar to one in a biological product for which an application has been submitted.

Requires the sponsor of a potential dormant therapy to list their patents that apply to the medicine and waive rights to those patents at the end of the dormant therapy protection period if the medicine is approved.

Allows a sponsor to withdraw a dormant therapy designation request unless the medicine has been approved or licensed.

Entitles the sponsor of a dormant therapy to extend patents that apply to the medicine to the end of the protection period.

Prohibits a dormant therapy from receiving specified protections that apply to pediatric, infectious disease, or rare disease or condition medicines.

Directs HHS to require a sponsor to certify that the clinical plan for a dormant therapy has been completed and that approval was based on investigations in the clinical plan.

Date: 2014-12-11
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Low-Dose Radiation Research Act of 2015

Requires the Director of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science to carry out a research program on low dose radiation to enhance the scientific understanding of and reduce uncertainties associated with the effects of exposure to low dose radiation.

Requires the Director to enter into an agreement with the National Academies to conduct a study assessing the current status and development of a long-term strategy for low dose radiation research.

Requires such study to:

 identify current scientific challenges for understanding the long-term effects of ionizing radiation, assess the status of current low dose radiation research, formulate overall scientific goals for the future of low-dose radiation research, recommend a long-term strategic and prioritized research agenda to address scientific research goals for overcoming the identified scientific challenges in coordination with other research efforts, define the essential components of a research program that would address this research agenda within the universities and the National Laboratories, and assess the effectiveness of such a program. Directs the Secretary of Energy to deliver to Congress a five-year research plan that responds to the study's findings and recommendations and identifies and prioritizes research needs.

Makes DOE's limitation on human research inapplicable to research under this Act.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act of 2015

Requires the National Institutes of Health to expand, intensify, and coordinate programs for the conduct and support of research on triple-negative breast cancer (breast cancers whose cells are negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and the HER2 protein).

Directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and disseminate to the public information regarding triple-negative breast cancer, including information on: (1) the incidence and prevalence of triple-negative breast cancer among women, (2) the elevated risk for minority women, and (3) the availability of a range of treatment options.

Requires the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop and disseminate information on triple-negative breast cancer to health care providers.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2009 to repeal the sunset of, and so extend indefinitely, the exclusion from resources under titles XVI (Supplemental Security Income) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, for eligibility purposes, of compensation in the amount of the first $2,000 per year received by individuals who participate in clinical trials for rare diseases or conditions.

Date: 2015-01-08
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act of 2015

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to: (1) enhance and expand infrastructure and activities to track the epidemiology of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease; and (2) incorporate information obtained through those activities into a National Neurological Diseases Surveillance System. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the System facilitates further research on neurological diseases.

Requires HHS to provide for the collection and storage of information on neurological diseases, including the incidence, prevalence, and other information, to the extent practicable.

Requires HHS to: (1) make information and analysis in the System available to federal agencies and to the public, including researchers; and (2) ensure that privacy and security protections applicable to the System are at least as stringent as the protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Date: 2015-01-13
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Expanding Care for Veterans Act

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop a plan to expand the scope of VA's research and education on, and delivery and integration of, complementary and alternative medicine services.

Requires the Secretary to carry out, through VA's Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, a three-year program to: (1) assess the feasibility and advisability of integrating the delivery of complementary and alternative medicine services selected by the Secretary with other VA health care services for veterans, and (2) identify and resolve barriers to providing such services and integrating them with other VA health services.

Requires such program to be conducted, at not fewer than 15 VA medical centers, by integrating the provision of complementary and alternative medicine services with other VA health care services provided to veterans who have a mental health condition, experience chronic pain, or have a chronic condition. Requires veterans' participation to be voluntary.

Directs the Secretary to contract with a qualified independent entity for comprehensive studies of the barriers encountered by veterans in receiving, and by administrators and clinicians in providing, complementary and alternative medicine services through VA. Provides for the conduct of such studies through surveys of veterans and VA administrators and clinicians.

Requires the Secretary to carry out a three-year program awarding grants to public or private nonprofit entities to assess the feasibility and advisability of using wellness programs to complement the provision of mental health care to veterans and family members who are eligible for readjustment counseling from VA.

Date: 2015-01-21
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Accelerating Biomedical Research Act 

This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2016-FY2021 to accommodate increases in appropriations to the National Institutes of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Date: 2015-01-26
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Collaborative Academic Research Efforts for Tourette Syndrome Act of 2015

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH research on Tourette syndrome.

Requires the NIH to develop a system to collect data on Tourette syndrome, including epidemiological information, primary data, and data on the availability of medical and social services for individuals with Tourette syndrome and their families.

 Requires the NIH to award grants and contracts to public or nonprofit private entities to support four to six Collaborative Research Centers for Tourette Syndrome in different regions to conduct basic and clinical research on Tourette syndrome.

 Requires the NIH to award grants for research on the full range of symptoms within the Tourette syndrome clinical spectrum and the efficacy of treatment options for particular patient subpopulations.

Requires the NIH to designate a portion of the amounts made available to carry out NIH programs and activities for a fiscal year to carry out programs and activities with respect to Tourette syndrome.

Date: 2015-01-28
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Medical Innovation Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require certain drug manufacturers to make payments to fund research supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A drug manufacturer with over $1 billion in net income in a fiscal year that has entered into a settlement agreement in the previous five years with a federal agency regarding specified violations must pay 1% of its net income to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for each of its covered blockbuster drugs. A covered blockbuster drug is a drug that has at least $1 billion in net sales in a year and was developed, in whole or in part, through federal investments in medical research, including a drug for which a patent contains information that relates to, or is based upon, federally-funded research.

Each fiscal year, HHS must publish a list of manufacturers that make payments, each manufacturer's covered blockbuster drugs, and payment amounts.

Payments are divided between the FDA and the NIH in proportion to the discretionary funding of those agencies, excluding FDA user fees. Payments are not disbursed if appropriations for the FDA or the NIH are lower than in the prior fiscal year.

The FDA's priority use for payments must include advancing regulatory science for medical products.

The NIH's priority use for payments must include supporting: (1) research that fosters radical innovation, (2) research that advances fundamental knowledge, (3) research related to diseases that disproportionately account for federal health care spending, and (4) early career scientists.

A covered blockbuster drug for which a manufacturer has not made a required payment is considered misbranded and cannot be sold until payment is made.

Date: 2015-02-04
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Permanent Investment in Health Research Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to make appropriations to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for FY2016-FY2025:

 for FY2016, $32 billion; and for each fiscal year from FY2017-FY2025, the amount appropriated for the preceding fiscal year, adjusted by any percentage increase in nominal gross domestic product during the preceding calendar year. The bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to add NIH to the list of programs and activities exempt from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act of 2015

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct or support epidemiological, basic, translational, and clinical research regarding Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

Directs HHS to establish the Interagency Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Working Group to review all HHS efforts concerning tick-borne diseases to ensure interagency coordination and examine research priorities. Requires the Working Group to: (1) provide a summary of tick-borne disease research, advances, and scientific viewpoints every two years; (2) make recommendations to HHS regarding tick-borne disease activities; and (3) hold annual public meetings.

Requires HHS to submit a strategic plan for tick-borne disease research within three years of enactment and every five years thereafter that includes: (1) budgetary requirements; (2) benchmarks for improving tick-borne disease diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, and prevention; and (3) a plan to disseminate Working Group summaries and other relevant information on tick-borne disease to health professionals and the public.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Expanding the Availability of Medicare Data Act 

Expands the kinds of uses of Medicare data available to qualified entities for quality and patient care improvement activities.

(A "qualified entity" is a public or private entity that: [1] is qualified to use claims data to evaluate the performance of service providers and suppliers on measures of quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and resource use; and [2] agrees to meet specified requirements, such as ensuring data security.) Authorizes a qualified entity to use claims data combined with non-claims data the entity has received, as well as information derived from evaluation of service provider and supplier performance, to conduct additional non-public analyses and provide or sell them to authorized users for non-public use (including to assist service providers and suppliers to develop and participate in quality and patient care improvement activities, including new models of care).

Defines "authorized users" as service providers, suppliers, employers, health insurance issuers, medical societies or hospital associations, or any other entities approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Prohibits a qualified entity from charging a fee to provide Medicare claims data.

Requires a qualified entity and an authorized user to enter into a data use agreement, and prohibits the use of data or analyses for marketing purposes or, except in certain circumstances, its redisclosure.

Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries for purposes of linking it with clinical outcomes data and performing risk-adjusted, scientifically valid analyses and research to support quality improvement or patient safety. Requires charging a fee to a registry for such data.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to include among standardized extracts of Medicare claims data that may be made available to qualified entities, if the Secretary determines appropriate, also claims data under SSAct titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP).

Requires any fees charged for making standardized extracts available to qualified entities to be deposited into the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program Management Account (currently, into the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund).

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Facilitating Participation in Clinical Data Registries Act of 2015

This bill requires the Office for Human Research Protections of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance within one year on the application of the Common Rule, which provides protections for human research subjects, to clinical data registries.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2015

Directs the President to establish the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020.

Directs the Commission to: (1) identify opportunities and ideas within government and the private sector that are key components in achieving the end of breast cancer and which have been overlooked, yet are ripe for collaboration and investment; (2) recommend projects to leverage such opportunities and ideas in the areas of the primary prevention of breast cancer and the causes and prevention of breast cancer metastasis; and (3) ensure that its activities are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs and laboratories of other government agencies.

Directs the President to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine for an evaluation of the Commission's progress.

Terminates the Commission on June 1, 2020.

Date: 2015-03-02
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
America's Fund for Future Opportunities and Outcomes in the United States Act of 2015 or the America's FOCUS Act of 2015

Establishes a separate account in the U.S. Treasury to be known as the America's FOCUS Fund, into which shall be deposited: (1) revenue generated by civil and criminal fines and penalties for violations or alleged violations of federal law; (2) revenue generated by legal settlements reached between corporations and the federal government for violations or alleged violations of federal law; and (3) gifts, bequests, or donations to the Fund from private entities or individuals.

Requires that, of the total revenue in the Fund: (1) up to 33% be used to award grants for youth mentoring and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; (2) up to 33% be used to award grants for justice reinvestment; (3) up to 33% be used to award grants and prizes for innovations in medical research and development; and (4) the remaining revenue be used to reduce the federal budget deficit or, if there is no deficit, to reduce the federal debt.

Directs the Secretary of Education to award the grants for youth mentoring programs, and the Associate Administrator for Education for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to award the grants for STEM education programs, to: (1) national non-profit, community-based organizations with at least two years of experience in administering such programs; and (2) state or local governments.

Requires that, of the funds available for justice reinvestment, the Department of Justice (DOJ): (1) award 50% to state and local governments for justice reinvestment projects, (2) use up to 25% of the funds to support federal justice reinvestment projects, and (3) allocate up to 25% of the funds to grant programs established under the Second Chance Act within DOJ.

Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health to use the revenue designated for medical innovation to fund entities that conduct innovative medical research and development. Authorizes the Director to use up to 15% of those funds to award monetary prizes to entities that have used their own funding and research facilities to produce innovative results.

Requires that the grant funds be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funds designated to carry out those activities.

Date: 2015-03-13
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Global Brain Health Act of 2015

Directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish and administer a health and education grant program (Global Autism Assistance Program) to: (1) support activities by nongovernmental organizations and other service providers, including advocacy groups, focused on autism in developing countries; and (2) establish a "teach the teachers" program to train health and education professionals working with autistic children in developing countries.

 Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance to support a network of trained medical practitioners to treat hydrocephalus in children at pediatric hospitals and hydrocephalus treatment centers in developing countries.

Requires such assistance to provide for surgeon training and establishment of at least 20 treatment centers.

 Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to:

 negotiate with the World Health Organization to develop a plan for addressing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia globally, to be known as the Global Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Action Plan; and seek to establish the Global Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Fund to support implementation of the Global Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Action Plan. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Group of Eight (G8) nations, working with the Group of Twenty (G20) nations, the Group of Seventy-Seven (G77) nations, and other organizations should investigate systems to monitor and provide care to individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia in developing countries.

 Directs the President to:

 appoint a high-level official to lead federal efforts to develop the Global Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Action Plan and the Global Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Fund, and facilitate partnerships between the federal government and the private sector to identify new treatment approaches for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Directs the Administrator of USAID to investigate the foreign aid implications of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: International affairs
Enhancing the Stature and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at NIH Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise requirements for medical rehabilitation research.

The purpose of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) is revised to include coordination of research and research training.

The NCMRR must develop and periodically update a comprehensive research plan for medical rehabilitation research. Currently, this research plan is developed and updated by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The NCMRR must: (1) annually report on progress in achieving the objectives, benchmarks, and guiding principles described in the research plan; and (2) develop guidelines governing the funding for medical rehabilitation research by the National Institutes of Health.

The Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee must periodically host a scientific conference or workshop on medical rehabilitation research.

The Department of Health and Human Services must enter into interagency agreements to coordinate medical rehabilitation research.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Health
Integrated Electronic Health Records (iEHR) for Military and Veterans Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly carry out a program to award a cash prize ($50 million) and contract to an entity that develops a fully-integrated electronic health records program for national use by DOD and VA. Directs the Secretaries to: (1) widely advertise the prize competitions and announce each one in the Federal Register, and (2) create a joint panel to establish criteria for the program's development.

 Requires the prize recipient to be awarded a contract with DOD and VA to provide the program, including maintenance and support, and to be compensated at $25 million per year for five years. Reverts to the federal government, after such period, any intellectual property developed under the contract.

Authorizes the Secretaries to require competition participants to waive claims against the federal government (except for willful conduct) arising from such participation. Requires participants to obtain liability insurance.

Date: 2015-03-24
Topic: Health (R&D)
Subject: Armed forces and national security