[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4327 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4327

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recognize tinnitus as a 
  mandatory condition for research and treatment by the Department of 
               Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2012

  Mr. Michaud (for himself, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. 
     Jones, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, and Mr. McGovern) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recognize tinnitus as a 
  mandatory condition for research and treatment by the Department of 
               Veterans Affairs, 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 ``Tinnitus Research and Treatment Act 
of 2012''.

SEC. 2. RECOGNITION AND TREATMENT OF TINNITUS AT DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS AUDITORY CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall recognize tinnitus as a 
mandatory condition for research and treatment by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs Auditory Centers of Excellence.

SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF TINNITUS.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that research is 
conducted at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities on the 
prevention and treatment of tinnitus. Such research shall include--
            (1) an assessment of the efficacy of different tinnitus 
        treatment modalities on different subsets of patients;
            (2) studies on the underlying etiology of tinnitus in 
        veteran populations that occur as a result of different causal 
        factors, including blast-related tinnitus versus other forms of 
        noise-induced tinnitus; and
            (3) a study of the causal effects between hearing loss and 
        tinnitus, including cases in which one or the other condition 
        is present, but not both.

SEC. 4. INTERDEPARTMENTAL COOPERATION.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure the cooperation of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs with the Hearing Center of 
Excellence established by the Department of Defense to further research 
on tinnitus.
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