[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2840 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2840

To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the 
 establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines 
     with respect to school-aged children, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 4, 2009

 Mr. Menendez introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the 
 establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines 
     with respect to school-aged children, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Concussion Treatment and Care Tools 
Act of 2009'' or the ``ConTACT Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries, the 
        long-term effects of which are not well understood.
            (2) As many as 3.8 million concussions related to sports 
        and recreation are estimated to occur in the United States each 
        year, although reliable data does not exist on the incidence of 
        concussions and second impact syndrome among student athletes.
            (3) There is an increased risk for subsequent brain 
        injuries among persons who have had at least one previous brain 
        injury.
            (4) A repeat concussion, one that occurs before the brain 
        recovers from a previous concussion, can slow recovery or 
        increase the likelihood of having long-term problems.
            (5) In rare cases, repeat concussions can result in second 
        impact syndrome, which can be marked by brain swelling, 
        permanent brain damage, and death.
            (6) Recurrent brain injuries and second impact syndrome are 
        highly preventable.
            (7) Many national organizations, including the American 
        Academy of Neurology, the National Football League, the 
        American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Brain Injury 
        Association of America, have adopted concussion management 
        guidelines, but multiple directives have created confusion and 
        sparked debate.

SEC. 3. CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO SCHOOL-AGED 
              CHILDREN.

    Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317T the following:

``SEC. 317U. CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO SCHOOL-
              AGED CHILDREN.

    ``(a) Concussion Management Guidelines.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
        of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish 
        concussion management guidelines (hereinafter in this section 
        referred to as the `guidelines') that address the prevention, 
        identification, treatment, and management of concussions in 
        school-aged children, including standards for student athletes 
        to return to play after a concussion.
            ``(2) Conference.--The Secretary shall convene a conference 
        of medical, athletic, and educational stakeholders for purposes 
        of assisting in the establishment of the guidelines.
    ``(b) Grants to States.--
            ``(1) In general.--After establishing the guidelines, the 
        Secretary may make grants to States for purposes of--
                    ``(A) adopting, disseminating, and ensuring the 
                implementation by elementary and secondary schools of 
                the guidelines; and
                    ``(B) funding implementation by elementary and 
                secondary schools of computerized pre-season baseline 
                and post-injury neuropsychological testing for student 
                athletes.
            ``(2) Grant applications.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a 
                grant under this section, the Secretary shall require a 
                State to submit an application to the Secretary at such 
                time, in such manner, and containing such information 
                as the Secretary shall require.
                    ``(B) Minimum contents.--The Secretary shall 
                require that an application of a State under 
                subparagraph (A) shall contain at a minimum--
                            ``(i) a description of the strategies the 
                        State will use to disseminate and ensure the 
                        implementation by elementary and secondary 
                        schools of the guidelines, including any 
                        strategic partnerships that the State will 
                        form; and
                            ``(ii) an agreement by the State to 
                        periodically provide data with respect to the 
                        incidence of concussions and second impact 
                        syndrome among student athletes in the State.
            ``(3) Utilization of high school sports associations and 
        local chapters of national brain injury organizations.--In 
        disseminating and ensuring the implementation by elementary and 
        secondary schools of the guidelines pursuant to a grant under 
        this section, the Secretary shall require States to utilize, to 
        the extent practicable, applicable expertise and services 
        offered by high school sports associations and local chapters 
        of national brain injury organizations in such States.
    ``(c) Coordination of Activities.--In carrying out activities under 
this section, the Secretary shall coordinate in an appropriate manner 
with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies that carry out 
activities related to concussions and other traumatic brain injuries.
    ``(d) Reports.--
            ``(1) Establishment of the guidelines.--Not later than 2 
        years after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 
        implementation of subsection (a).
            ``(2) Grant program and data collection.--Not later than 4 
        years after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 
        implementation of subsection (b), including the number of 
        States that have adopted the guidelines, the number of 
        elementary and secondary schools that have implemented 
        computerized pre-season baseline and post-injury 
        neuropsychological testing for student athletes, and the data 
        collected with respect to the incidence of concussions and 
        second impact syndrome among student athletes.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions 
apply:
            ``(1) The term `school-aged child' means an individual who 
        is 5 years of age through 18 years of age.
            ``(2) The term `second impact syndrome' means catastrophic 
        or fatal events that occur when an individual suffers a 
        concussion while symptomatic and healing from a previous 
        concussion.
            ``(3) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers 
        for Disease Control and Prevention.
            ``(4) The term `State' means each of the 50 States and the 
        District of Columbia.
            ``(5) The term `student athlete' means a school-aged child 
        in any of the grades 6th through 12th who participates in a 
        sport through such child's elementary or secondary school.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 
years 2011 through 2014.''.
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