[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2112 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2112

To establish a comprehensive interagency response to reduce lung cancer 
                     mortality in a timely manner.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2009

Mrs. Christensen (for herself, Mr. LoBiondo, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. 
 Meeks of New York, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Bishop of 
  Georgia, Mr. Hinojosa, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Ms. Kilpatrick of 
   Michigan, and Mr. Lance) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committees on Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a comprehensive interagency response to reduce lung cancer 
                     mortality in a timely manner.

    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 ``Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act 
of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for 
        both men and women, accounting for 28 percent of all cancer 
        deaths.
            (2) Lung cancer kills more people annually than breast 
        cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, 
        and kidney cancer combined.
            (3) Since the National Cancer Act of 1971 (Public Law 92-
        218; 85 Stat. 778), coordinated and comprehensive research has 
        raised the 5-year survival rates for breast cancer to 88 
        percent, for prostate cancer to 99 percent, and for colon 
        cancer to 64 percent.
            (4) However, the 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is 
        still only 15 percent and a similar coordinated and 
        comprehensive research effort is required to achieve increases 
        in lung cancer survivability rates.
            (5) Sixty percent of lung cancer cases are now diagnosed as 
        nonsmokers or former smokers.
            (6) Two-thirds of nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer are 
        women.
            (7) Certain minority populations, such as African-American 
        males, have disproportionately high rates of lung cancer 
        incidence and mortality, notwithstanding their similar smoking 
        rate.
            (8) Members of the baby boomer generation are entering 
        their sixties, the most common age at which people develop lung 
        cancer.
            (9) Tobacco addiction and exposure to other lung cancer 
        carcinogens such as Agent Orange and other herbicides and 
        battlefield emissions are serious problems among military 
        personnel and war veterans.
            (10) Significant and rapid improvements in lung cancer 
        mortality can be expected through greater use and access to 
        lung cancer screening tests for at-risk individuals.
            (11) Additional strategies are necessary to further enhance 
        the existing tests and therapies available to diagnose and 
        treat lung cancer in the future.
            (12) The August 2001 Report of the Lung Cancer Progress 
        Review Group of the National Cancer Institute stated that 
        funding for lung cancer research was ``far below the levels 
        characterized for other common malignancies and far out of 
        proportion to its massive health impact''.
            (13) The Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review Group 
        identified as its ``highest priority'' the creation of 
        integrated, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research 
        consortia organized around the problem of lung cancer rather 
        than around specific research disciplines.
            (14) The United States must enhance its response to the 
        issues raised in the Report of the Lung Cancer Progress Review 
        Group, and this can be accomplished through the establishment 
        of a coordinated effort designed to reduce the lung cancer 
        mortality rate by 50 percent by 2015 and targeted funding to 
        support this coordinated effort.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING INVESTMENT IN LUNG CANCER 
              RESEARCH.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) lung cancer mortality reduction should be made a 
        national public health priority; and
            (2) a comprehensive mortality reduction program coordinated 
        by the Secretary of Health and Human Services is justified and 
        necessary to adequately address and reduce lung cancer 
        mortality.

SEC. 4. LUNG CANCER MORTALITY REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Subpart 1 of part C of title IV of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 417G. LUNG CANCER MORTALITY REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Director 
of the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, the 
Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the 
Director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health 
Disparities, and other members of the Lung Cancer Advisory Board 
established under section 6 of the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act 
of 2009, shall implement a comprehensive program, to be known as the 
Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program, to achieve a reduction of at 
least 25 percent in the mortality rate of lung cancer by 2015.
    ``(b) Requirements.--The Program shall include at least the 
following:
            ``(1) With respect to the National Institutes of Health--
                    ``(A) a strategic review and prioritization by the 
                National Cancer Institute of research grants to achieve 
                the goal of the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program 
                in reducing lung cancer mortality;
                    ``(B) the provision of funds to enable the Airway 
                Biology and Disease Branch of the National Heart, Lung, 
                and Blood Institute to expand its research programs to 
                include predispositions to lung cancer, the 
                interrelationship between lung cancer and other 
                pulmonary and cardiac disease, and the diagnosis and 
                treatment of these interrelationships;
                    ``(C) the provision of funds to enable the National 
                Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to 
                expedite the development of computer assisted 
                diagnostic, surgical, treatment, and drug testing 
                innovations to reduce lung cancer mortality, such as 
                through expansion of the Institute's Quantum Grant 
                Program and Image-Guided Interventions programs; and
                    ``(D) the provision of funds to enable the National 
                Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to implement 
                research programs relative to the lung cancer 
                incidence.
            ``(2) With respect to the Food and Drug Administration--
                    ``(A) activities under section 529 of the Federal 
                Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; and
                    ``(B) activities under section 561 of the Federal 
                Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to expand access to 
                investigational drugs and devices for the diagnosis, 
                monitoring, or treatment of lung cancer.
            ``(3) With respect to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, the establishment of an early disease research and 
        management program under section 1511.
            ``(4) With respect to the Agency for Healthcare Research 
        and Quality, the conduct of a biannual review of lung cancer 
        screening, diagnostic, and treatment protocols, and the 
        issuance of updated guidelines.
            ``(5) The cooperation and coordination of all minority and 
        health disparity programs within the Department of Health and 
        Human Services to ensure that all aspects of the Lung Cancer 
        Mortality Reduction Program under this section adequately 
        address the burden of lung cancer on minority and rural 
        populations.
            ``(6) The cooperation and coordination of all tobacco 
        control and cessation programs within agencies of the 
        Department of Health and Human Services to achieve the goals of 
        the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program under this section 
        with particular emphasis on the coordination of drug and other 
        cessation treatments with early detection protocols.''.
    (b) Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.--Subchapter B of chapter 
V of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360aaa et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                    ``drugs relating to lung cancer

    ``Sec. 529.  (a) In General.--The provisions of this subchapter 
shall apply to a drug described in subsection (b) to the same extent 
and in the same manner as such provisions apply to a drug for a rare 
disease or condition.
    ``(b) Qualified Drugs.--A drug described in this subsection is--
            ``(1) a chemoprevention drug for precancerous conditions of 
        the lung;
            ``(2) a drug for a targeted therapeutic treatments, 
        including any vaccine for, lung cancer; and
            ``(3) a drug to curtail or prevent nicotine addiction.
    ``(c) Board.--The Board established under section 6 of the Lung 
Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009 shall monitor the program 
implemented under this section.''.
    (c) Access to Unapproved Therapies.--Section 561(e) of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360bbb(e)) is amended by 
inserting before the period the following: ``and shall include 
expanding access to drugs under section 529, with substantial 
consideration being given to whether the totality of information 
available to the Secretary regarding the safety and effectiveness of an 
investigational drug, as compared to the risk of morbidity and death 
from the disease, indicates that a patient may obtain more benefit than 
risk if treated with the drug''.
    (d) CDC.--Title XV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300k 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1511. EARLY DISEASE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.

    ``The Secretary shall establish and implement an early disease 
research and management program targeted at the high incidence and 
mortality rates of lung cancer among minority and low-income 
populations.''.

SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall coordinate with the Secretary of Health and Human Services--
            (1) in the development of the Lung Cancer Mortality 
        Reduction Program under section 417G;
            (2) in the implementation within the Department of Defense 
        and the Department of Veterans Affairs of an early detection 
        and disease management research program for military personnel 
        and veterans whose smoking history and exposure to carcinogens 
        during active duty service has increased their risk for lung 
        cancer; and
            (3) in the implementation of coordinated care programs for 
        military personnel and veterans diagnosed with lung cancer.

SEC. 6. LUNG CANCER ADVISORY BOARD.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
convene a Lung Cancer Advisory Board (referred to in this section as 
the ``Board'')--
            (1) to monitor the programs established under this Act (and 
        the amendments made by this Act); and
            (2) to provide annual reports to the Congress concerning 
        benchmarks, expenditures, lung cancer statistics, and the 
        public health impact of such programs.
    (b) Composition.--The Board shall be composed of--
            (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
            (2) the Secretary of Defense;
            (3) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
            (4) two representatives each from the fields of clinical 
        medicine focused on lung cancer, lung cancer research, imaging, 
        drug development, and lung cancer advocacy, to be appointed by 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--To carry out this Act (and the amendments made by 
this Act), there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
    (b) Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program.--Of the amounts 
authorized to be appropriated by subsection (a), there are authorized 
to be appropriated--
            (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may 
        be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014, for 
        the activities described in section 417G(b)(1)(B) of the Public 
        Health Service Act, as added by section 4(a);
            (2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may 
        be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014, for 
        the activities described in section 417G(b)(1)(C) of such Act;
            (3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may 
        be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014, for 
        the activities described in section 417G(b)(1)(D) of such Act; 
        and
            (4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may 
        be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014, for 
        the activities described in section 417G(b)(3) of such Act.
                                 <all>