[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 832 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 832

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of 
   research and education regarding menopause and related conditions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 1997

 Mr. Stearns introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of 
   research and education regarding menopause and related conditions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Menopause Outreach, Research, and 
Education Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM REGARDING WOMEN'S MIDLIFE HEALTH CARE.

    Section 445H of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285e-10) 
is amended to read as follows:

 menopause and other aging processes regarding women; research centers

    ``Sec. 445H. (a) The Director of the Institute, in addition to 
other special functions specified in section 444 and in cooperation 
with the Directors of the other national research institutes and 
agencies of the National Institutes of Health, shall conduct and 
support research into--
            ``(1) the aging processes of women, with particular 
        emphasis given to the effects of menopause and the 
        physiological and behavioral changes occurring during the 
        transition from premenopause to postmenopause; and
            ``(2) the diagnosis, disorders, and complications related 
        to aging and loss of ovarian hormones in women.
    ``(b)(1) The Director of the Institute, after consultation with the 
industry with the advisory council for the Institute, shall provide for 
the development of expansion of not less than 5 centers for--
            ``(A) research on menopause; and
            ``(B) research on conditions arising from the diminished or 
        complete cessation of the functioning of the ovaries, whether 
        occurring naturally or otherwise (which conditions are in this 
        subsection referred to as `menopausal health conditions').
    ``(2) Each center assisted under this subsection shall--
            ``(A) use the facilities of a single institution or a 
        consortium of cooperating institutions, and meet such 
        qualifications as may be prescribed by the Director of the 
        Institute;
            ``(B) conduct basic and clinical research into the natural 
        history of menopause in order to improve the state of medical 
        knowledge or methods regarding the cause, diagnosis, early 
        detection, prevention, control, and treatment of menopausal 
        health conditions;
            ``(C) develop multidisciplinary models of health care 
        regarding menopause and menopausal health conditions;
            ``(D) conduct educational and training programs on 
        menopause and menopausal health conditions for physicians, 
        scientists, and other health and allied health professionals;
            ``(E) conduct information and continuing education programs 
        for physicians and other health and allied health professionals 
        who provide care for patients with such conditions; and
            ``(F) conduct programs for the dissemination to the general 
        public of information on menopause and menopausal health 
        conditions.
    ``(3) In carrying out paragraph (2)(B), the Director of the 
Institute shall ensure that centers assisted under this subsection--
            ``(A) conduct research on hormonal treatments for 
        menopausal health conditions, research on nonhormonal 
        treatments of symptoms arising from such conditions, and 
        research on the relationship between such conditions and 
        cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, bone fractures, bladder 
        conditions, breast and uterine cancers, and other conditions 
        that research indicates may be relevant; and
            ``(B) conduct research to determine whether and to what 
        extent differences may exist, with respect to menopause and 
        menopausal health conditions, among various socioeconomic 
        groups, ethnic groups, and racial groups.
    ``(4) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Director of the Institute, 
in consultation with the Director of NIH and the Administrator for 
Health Care Policy and Research, shall establish a program to develop 
protocols for the prevention and treatment of menopausal health 
conditions and other conditions regarding women's midlife health.
    ``(5) A center may use funds provided under paragraph (1) to 
provide stipends for health professionals enrolled in educational or 
training programs described in paragraph (2)(D).
    ``(6) The Director shall ensure that the activities of centers 
assisted under this subsection are coordinated among the centers.
    ``(7) The Director of the Institute shall, to the extent 
practicable, provide for an equitable geographical distribution of 
centers assisted under this subsection.
    ``(8) Support of a center under this subsection may be for a period 
of not to exceed five years. Such period may be extended by the 
Director of the Institute for one or more additional periods of not 
more than five years if the operations of such center have been 
reviewed by an appropriate technical and scientific peer review group 
established by the Director and if such group has recommended to the 
Director that such period should be extended.''.
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