1.This Act may be cited as the
Veterans Pain Care Act of
2007
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Acute and chronic
pain are prevalent conditions within the population of veterans.
(2)Methods of modern
warfare, including the use of improvised explosive devices, produce substantial
numbers of battlefield casualties with significant damage to both the central
and peripheral nervous systems.
(3)The successes of
military health care, both on and off the battlefield, result in high survival
rates of severely injured military personnel who will be afflicted with
significant pain disorders on either an acute or chronic basis.
(4)Failure to treat
pain appropriately at the time of transition from receipt of care from the
Department of Defense to receipt of care from the Department of Veterans
Affairs contributes to the development of long-term chronic pain syndromes, in
some cases accompanied by long-term mental health and substance use
disorders.
(5)Pain is a leading
cause of short-term and long-term disability among veterans.
(6)The Department of
Veterans Affairs has implemented important pain care programs at some
facilities and in some areas, but comprehensive pain care is not consistently
provided on a uniform basis throughout the health care system of the Department
to all patients in need of such care.
(7)Inconsistent and
ineffective pain care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs leads to
pain-related impairments, occupational disability, and medical and mental
complications for veterans with acute and chronic pain, with long-term costs
for the health care and disability systems of the Department and for society at
large.
(8)Research,
diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute and chronic pain for veterans
constitute health care priorities of the United States.
3.Pain care
initiative in Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities
(a)Subchapter
II of chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following new section:
1720F.
(a)The Secretary shall
carry out at each health care facility of the Department an initiative on pain
care.
(b)The initiative at each health care facility
of the Department shall ensure that each individual receiving treatment in such
health care facility receives the following:
(1)An assessment for
pain at the time of admission or initial treatment, and periodically
thereafter, using a professionally recognized pain assessment tool or
process.
(2)Appropriate pain
care consistent with recognized means for assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and
management of acute and chronic pain, including when appropriate, access to
specialty pain management
services.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1720E the following
new item:
1720F. Pain
care.
.
(c)The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that the pain care initiatives
required by section 1720F of title 38, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a), are implemented at all health care facilities of the Department
of Veterans affairs by not later than—
(1)January 1, 2008,
in the case of inpatient care; and
(2)January 1, 2009,
in the case of outpatient care.
4.Program on
research and training on pain in Department of Veterans Affairs
(a)Subchapter II of
chapter 73 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
7330A.Program of
research and training on acute and chronic pain
(a)The Secretary shall carry out within the Medical and
Prosthetic Research Service of the Veterans Health Administration a program of
research and training on acute and chronic pain.
(b)The
purposes of the program shall include the following:
(1)To identify
research priorities most relevant to the treatment of the types of acute and
chronic pain suffered by veterans.
(2)To promote,
conduct, and coordinate research in accordance with such research
priorities—
(A)through the
facilities and programs of the Department; and
(B)in cooperation
with other agencies, institutions, and organizations, including the Department
of Defense.
(3)To educate and
train health care personnel of the Department with respect to the assessment,
diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute and chronic pain.
(c)(1)The Secretary shall
designate an appropriate number of facilities of the Department as cooperative
centers for research and education on pain. Each such center shall be
designated with a focus on research and training on one or more of the
following:
(A)Acute pain.
(B)Chronic pain.
(C)A research priority identified under
subsection (b)(1).
(2)The Secretary shall designate at
least one of the centers designated under paragraph (1) as a lead center for
research on pain attributable to central and peripheral nervous system damage
commonly associated with the battlefield injuries characteristic of modern
warfare.
(3)The Secretary shall designate one of
the centers designated under paragraph (1) as the lead center for coordinating
the pain care research activities of the centers designated under this
subsection. The functions of such center shall be the following:
(A)To review and evaluate periodically
the research of the centers designated under this subsection and to ensure that
such research is conducted in accordance with the research priorities
identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
(B)To collect and disseminate the results
of the research of the centers designated under this subsection.
(C)To develop and disseminate educational
materials and products—
(i)to enhance the assessment,
diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute and chronic pain by the health
care professionals and facilities of the Veterans Health Administration;
and
(ii)for veterans suffering from acute
or chronic pain and their families.
(d)Centers designated under subsection (c) may compete for
the award of funding from amounts appropriated to the Department each fiscal
year for medical and prosthetics research.
(e)The Under Secretary of Health shall designate an
appropriate officer—
(1)to oversee the
operation of the centers designated under subsection (c); and
(2)to review and
evaluate periodically the performance of such
centers.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 7330 the following
new item:
7330A. Program of research and training on acute and chronic
pain.
.
February 28, 2008
Reported without amendment