[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4621 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4621

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that an injury or 
  death sustained as a result of participation in a medical research 
  program of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall be treated for 
    purpose of benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs in the same manner as if the injury were incurred as a 
          result of military service, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2004

 Mr. Renzi (for himself, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Flake, 
 Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that an injury or 
  death sustained as a result of participation in a medical research 
  program of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall be treated for 
    purpose of benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs in the same manner as if the injury were incurred as a 
          result of military service, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. INJURIES AND DEATHS SUSTAINED AS A RESULT OF PARTICIPATION 
              IN A MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS TO BE TREATED IN THE SAME MANNER AS IF 
              INCURRED AS A RESULT OF MILITARY SERVICE.

    Section 1151 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) In the case of an individual who after January 1, 1980, 
participated in a medical research program conducted by the Department 
under section 7303 of this title, a subsequent disability, or the 
death, of the individual shall be treated for the purposes of the first 
sentence of subsection (a) in the same manner as if the disability or 
death were a qualifying additional disability or qualifying death, and 
the individual (if not a veteran) shall be treated for the purposes of 
that sentence in the same manner as if the individual were a veteran, 
if--
            ``(1) the disability or death was caused by that 
        individual's participation in that research program;
            ``(2) the disability or death was not the result of the 
        individual's willful misconduct; and
            ``(3) the proximate cause of the disability or death was--
                    ``(A) carelessness, negligence, lack of proper 
                skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault 
                on the part of the Department in the conduct of the 
                research program; or
                    ``(B) an event not reasonably foreseeable.''.

SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT STUDY OF ADJUDICATIONS UNDER SECTION 1151.

    (a) Study Required.-- The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
provide, by contract, for an independent study to be conducted on the 
experience of the Department of Veterans Affairs in adjudicating claims 
under section 1151 of title 38, United States Code.
    (b) Matter to Be Studied.--The entity selected to perform the study 
under subsection (a) shall evaluate the resolution of a representative 
sample of claims under section 1151 of title 38, United States Code, 
selected from the period of 1998 through 2002 and shall make a 
determination, for each claim selected for such purpose, as to whether 
the resolution of the claim was in accordance with the standard 
specified in that section, as in effect at the time of the resolution 
of the claim.
    (c) Report.--The contract under subsection (a) shall provide for a 
report on the results of the study to be submitted to the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs and the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate 
and House of Representatives not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. The report shall include--
            (1) the results of the review conducted pursuant to the 
        contract; and
            (2) such recommendations for administrative and legislative 
        changes as would, in the opinion of the entity conducting the 
        study, improve the resolution of claims under that section or 
        provide for a more appropriate standard for the resolution of 
        claims under that section.
                                 <all>