[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3345 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3345

 To provide for research and education to improve screening, detection 
                   and diagnosis of prostate cancer.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2012

 Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mr. Kerry) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for research and education to improve screening, detection 
                   and diagnosis of prostate cancer.

    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 ``Prostate Cancer Detection Research 
and Education Act''.

SEC. 2. PLAN TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A TEST OR TESTS FOR PROSTATE 
              CANCER.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary''), acting through the 
Director of the National Institutes of Health, shall establish an 
advisory council on prostate cancer (referred to in this Act as the 
``advisory council'') to draft a plan for the development and 
validation of an accurate test or tests, such as biomarkers or imaging, 
to detect and diagnose prostate cancer.
    (b) Advisory Council.--
            (1) Membership.--
                    (A) Federal members.--The advisory council shall be 
                comprised of the following experts:
                            (i) A designee of the Centers for Disease 
                        Control and Prevention.
                            (ii) A designee of the Centers for Medicare 
                        & Medicaid Services.
                            (iii) A designee of the Office of the 
                        Director of the National Cancer Institute.
                            (iv) A designee of the Director of the 
                        Department of Defense Congressionally Directed 
                        Medical Research Program.
                            (v) A designee of the Director of the 
                        National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and 
                        Bioengineering.
                            (vi) A designee of the Director of the 
                        National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
                            (vii) A designee of the Director of the 
                        National Institute on Minority Health and 
                        Health Disparities.
                            (viii) A designee of the Office of the 
                        Director of the National Institutes of Health.
                            (ix) A designee of the Food and Drug 
                        Administration.
                            (x) A designee of the Agency for Healthcare 
                        Research and Quality.
                            (xi) A designee of the Director of the 
                        Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research 
                        Center of the Department of Defense.
                    (B) Non-federal members.--In addition to the 
                members described in subparagraph (A), the advisory 
                council shall include 8 expert members from outside the 
                Federal Government to be appointed by the Secretary, 
                which shall include--
                            (i) 2 prostate cancer patient advocates;
                            (ii) 2 health care providers with a range 
                        of expertise and experience in prostate cancer; 
                        and
                            (iii) 4 leading researchers with prostate 
                        cancer-related expertise in a range of clinical 
                        disciplines.
            (2) Meetings.--The advisory council shall meet quarterly 
        and such meetings shall be open to the public.
            (3) Advice.--The advisory council shall advise the 
        Secretary, or the Secretary's designee.
            (4) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the advisory council shall provide to 
        the Secretary, or the Secretary's designee and Congress--
                    (A) an initial evaluation of all Federally funded 
                efforts in prostate cancer research relating to the 
                development and validation of an accurate test or tests 
                to detect and diagnose prostate cancer;
                    (B) a plan for the development and validation of a 
                reliable test or tests for the detection and accurate 
                diagnosis of prostate cancer; and
                    (C) a set of standards for prostate cancer 
                screening, developed in coordination with the United 
                States Preventive Services Task Force, to ensure that 
                any tools for screening, detection, and diagnosis 
                developed in accordance with the plan under 
                subparagraph (B) will meet the requirements of the Task 
                Force for recommendation as a proven preventive or 
                diagnostic service.
            (5) Termination.--The advisory council shall terminate on 
        December 31, 2016.
    (c) Funding.--The Secretary may make available $1,000,000 from 
amounts appropriated to the National Institutes of Health for each of 
fiscal years 2013 through 2017 to carry out this section.

SEC. 3. COORDINATION AND INTENSIFICATION OF PROSTATE CANCER RESEARCH.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the National Institutes of Health, 
in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall coordinate and 
intensify research in accordance with the plan developed under section 
2(b)(4)(B), with particular attention provided to leveraging existing 
research to develop and validate a test or tests, such as biomarkers or 
imaging, to detect and accurately diagnose prostate cancer in order to 
improve quality of life for millions of Americans, and decrease health 
care system costs.
    (b) Funding.--The Secretary may make available $30,000,000 from 
amounts appropriated to the National Institutes of Health for each of 
fiscal years 2014 through 2018 to carry out this section.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.

    (a) National Campaign.--The Secretary, in coordination with the 
Director of the National Institutes of Health and the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall carry out a national 
campaign to increase the awareness and knowledge of prostate cancer.
    (b) Requirements.--The national campaign conducted under subsection 
(a) shall include--
            (1) roles for the National Cancer Institute, the National 
        Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Office 
        on Minority Health of the Department of Health and Human 
        Services, and the Office of Minority Health of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention; and
            (2) the development and distribution of written educational 
        materials, and the development and placing of public service 
        announcements, that are intended to encourage men to seek 
        prostate cancer screening when symptoms are present, when they 
        have a family history of prostate cancer, or if they belong to 
        a high-risk population.
    (c) Racial Disparities.--In developing the national campaign under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall recognize and address--
            (1) the racial disparities in the incidences of prostate 
        cancer and mortality rates with respect to such disease; and
            (2) any barriers in access to patient care and 
        participation in clinical trials that are specific to racial 
        minorities.
    (d) Grants.--The Secretary shall establish a program to award 
grants to nonprofit private entities to enable such entities to test 
alternative outreach and education strategies to increase the awareness 
and knowledge of Americans with respect to prostate cancer.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2017.
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