HR 1743 IH - March 28, 2007
As retrieved on Mar 5, 2008
Liver Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (Introduced in
House)
HR 1743 IH
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1743
To establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 28, 2007
Mr. LYNCH (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MCCOTTER,
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. OLVER, and Mr. MCNULTY) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A BILL
To establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research,
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 `Liver Research Enhancement Act
of 2007'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) An estimated 30,000,000 people in the United States are
affected by a liver or liver-related disease.
(2) In excess of $15,000,000,000 is spent annually to
provide medical care for people in the United States with
hepatitis C . This cost is projected to grow substantially
over the next decade without a vaccine, cure, or the
discovery of better treatments.
(3) There are over 4,000,000 people in the United States who
are or have been infected with hepatitis C , 3,200,000 of
whom are chronically infected.
(4) Due to limited research, current treatments for
hepatitis C are effective in approximately 50 percent of the
cases.
(5) A vaccine has not been developed for hepatitis C .
(6) There are 10,000 to 12,000 deaths each year due to
hepatitis C , and the annual death total is projected to
triple absent increased public health and research
interventions.
(7) Hepatitis C is the leading cause of death among people
co-infected with HIV.
(8) Chronic infection with hepatitis B or C is associated
with an increased incidence of primary liver cancer, once a
rare malignancy in the United States.
(9) There are 1,400,000 people in the United States who have
been infected with hepatitis B.
(10) One out of 10 Asian and Pacific-Islander Americans are
chronically infected with hepatitis B.
(11) It is estimated that as many as 20 percent of Americans
have fatty liver disease which can lead to cirrhosis and
liver failure.
(12) There are 15,000 children hospitalized in the United
States each year due to liver disease.
(13) The only option for many individuals with advanced or
chronic liver disease is a liver transplant.
(14) Approximately 17,000 people in the United States are on
the waiting list for a liver transplant, but because of the
limited supply of livers available for transplantation, only
approximately 6,000 liver transplants are performed each
year.
(15) There are 1,300 people in the United States who die
each year waiting for a liver transplant.
(16) To address the public health threat posed by liver
disease, there is a need for the establishment of a National
Center on Liver Disease Research to provide dedicated
scientific leadership, to create a research action plan, and
to ensure the funding of the scientific opportunities
identified by the plan.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER ON LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH.
Subpart 3 of part C of title IV of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 285c, et seq.) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
`NATIONAL CENTER ON LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH
`Sec. 434B. (a) Establishment- There is established the
National Center on Liver Disease Research (hereafter in this
section referred to as the `Center') in the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
`(b) Director- The Center shall be headed by a Director, who
shall be appointed by the Director of the Institute, in
consultation with the Director of NIH, from among
individuals with the highest scientific credentials. The
Director of the Center shall report directly to the Director
of the Institute.
`(c ) Duties- To ensure the development of increased
understanding of and better treatments and cures for liver
diseases through a dedicated scientific leadership and an
adequate allocation of resources, the Director shall--
`(1) assist the Liver Disease Research Advisory Board to
develop the Liver Disease Research Action Plan; and
`(2) encourage and coordinate the implementation of the Plan
by the national research institutes, including by issuing
research solicitations and by using all other available
mechanisms.
`(d) Liver Disease Research Advisory Board-
`(1) ESTABLISHMENT- Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of the Liver Research Enhancement Act of 2007,
the Director of NIH shall establish a board to be known as
the Liver Disease Research Advisory Board (hereafter in this
section referred to as the `Advisory Board').
`(2) DUTIES- The Advisory Board shall advise and assist the
Director of the Center concerning matters relating to liver
disease research, including by developing and revising the
Liver Disease Research Action Plan in accordance with
subsection (e).
`(3) VOTING MEMBERS- The Advisory Board shall be composed of
18 voting members appointed by the Director of NIH, in
consultation with the Director of the Institute, of whom 12
shall be eminent scientists and 6 shall be lay persons. The
Director of NIH, in consultation with the Director of the
Institute, shall select 1 of the members to serve as the
Chair of the Advisory Board.
`(4) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS- The Director of NIH shall appoint
each director of a national research institute that funds
liver disease research to serve as a nonvoting, ex officio
member of the Advisory Board. The Director of NIH shall
invite 1 representative of the Centers for Disease
Prevention and Control, 1 representative of the Food and
Drug Administration, and 1 representative of the Department
of Veterans Affairs to serve as such a member. Each ex
officio member of the Advisory Board may appoint an
individual to serve as that member's representative on the
Advisory Board.
`(e) Liver Disease Research Action Plan-
`(1) DEVELOPMENT- Not later than 15 months after the date of
the enactment of the Liver Research Enhancement Act of 2007,
the Advisory Board shall develop (with appropriate support
from the Director and staff of the Center) a comprehensive
plan for the conduct and support of liver disease research
to be known as the Liver Disease Research Action Plan. The
Advisory Board shall submit the Plan to the Director of NIH
and the head of each institute or center within the National
Institutes of Health that funds liver disease research.
`(2) CONTENT- The Liver Disease Research Action Plan shall
identify scientific opportunities and priorities of liver
disease research necessary to increase understanding of and
to prevent, cure, and develop better treatment protocols for
liver diseases.
`(3) REVISION- The Advisory Board shall revise every 3 years
the Liver Disease Research Action Plan, but shall meet
annually to review progress and to amend the Plan as may be
appropriate because of new scientific discoveries.
`(f) Allocation of Funds- Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Director of each institute or center
within the National Institutes of Health shall allocate to
liver disease research through peer-reviewed methods, the
amounts necessary to fund existing scientific research
opportunities and, subject to completion and subsequent
updates of the Liver Disease Research Action Plan, amounts
adequate to carry out the recommendations of the Plan.'.
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