Preventing Stillbirth and SUID Act of 2008 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop: (1) a standard definition of stillbirth; and (2) a standard protocol for stillbirth data collection and surveillance, including enhancing the National Vital Statistics System for the reporting of stillbirths.
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish: (1) a national registry that can facilitate the understanding of root causes, rates, and trends of stillbirth; (2) public education and prevention programs aimed at reducing the occurrence of stillbirth; and (3) a population-based sudden, unexpected infant deaths (SUID) case registry that can facilitate the understanding of the root causes, rates, and trends of SUID.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[S. 3142 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3142
To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance public health
activities related to stillbirth and sudden unexpected infant death.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 17, 2008
Mr. Reid (for Mr. Obama) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance public health
activities related to stillbirth and sudden unexpected infant death.
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 ``Preventing Stillbirth and SUID Act
of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Every year, more than 25,000 women in the United States
experience stillbirth.
(2) Common diagnosable causes for stillbirth include
genetic abnormalities, umbilical cord accidents, infections,
and placental problems, however, more than half of all
stillbirths remain unexplained.
(3) A number of risk factors for stillbirth have been
described in pregnant women such as maternal age, obesity,
smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and previous stillbirth.
(4) Good prenatal care, not smoking, and not drinking
alcohol are helpful strategies for pregnant women to reduce the
risk of stillbirth, however, researchers continue to perform
studies into other effective modes of reducing the risk,
including monitoring fetal activity or ``in utero'' movement
starting at approximately 28 weeks.
(5) Half of the more than 4,500 sudden, unexpected infant
deaths (SUID) that occur each year in the United States are due
to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is the leading
cause of SUID and of all deaths among infants aged 1 to 12
months.
(6) Sudden infant death syndrome is a diagnosis of
exclusion and is only determined after all known causes are
excluded by a thorough examination of the death scene, a review
of the clinical history, and performance of an autopsy.
However, some SUID are not investigated and, even when they
are, cause-of-death data are not collected and reported
consistently.
(7) Inaccurate classification of cause and manner of death
impedes prevention efforts and complicates our ability to
understand risk factors related to these deaths.
(8) Death certificate data cannot fully characterize the
sudden, unexpected infant deaths nor identify potential risk
factors amenable to prevention.
SEC. 3. ENHANCING PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVITIES RELATED TO STILLBIRTH.
(a) In General.--Part B of title XI of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 300c-12 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 1123. NATIONAL REGISTRY AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS FOR
STILLBIRTH.
``(a) Determination of Standard Stillbirth Definition and
Protocol.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the
Secretary shall provide for the development of--
``(A) a standard definition of stillbirth; and
``(B) a standard protocol for stillbirth data
collection and surveillance, including--
``(i) enhancing the National Vital
Statistics System for the reporting of
stillbirths; and
``(ii) expanding active population-based
surveillance efforts currently underway at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
including utilizing the infrastructure of
existing birth defects surveillance registries
to collect thorough and complete epidemiologic
information on stillbirths.
``(2) Consultation.--The Secretary shall ensure that the
standard definition and protocol described in paragraph (1) are
developed in a manner that ensures the consultation of
representatives of health and advocacy organizations, State and
local governments, and other interested entities specified by
the Secretary.
``(b) Establishment.--The Secretary, acting through the
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the
Director of the National Institutes of Health, and in consultation with
national health organizations and professional societies with expertise
relating to reducing stillbirths and infant mortality, shall
establish--
``(1) a national registry that can facilitate the
understanding of root causes, rates, and trends of stillbirth;
and
``(2) public education and prevention programs aimed at
reducing the occurrence of stillbirth.
``(c) National Registry.--The national registry established under
subsection (b)(1) shall facilitate the collection, analysis, and
dissemination of data by--
``(1) implementing a surveillance and monitoring system
based on the protocols developed in subsection (a)(1)(B);
``(2) developing standardized protocols for thorough and
complete investigation of stillbirth, including protocols for
autopsy and pathological examinations of the fetus and
placenta, and other postmortem tests for surveillance of
stillbirth;
``(3) identifying trends, potential risk factors for
further study, and methods for the evaluation of prevention
efforts; and
``(4) supporting efforts in collection of vital records,
active case finding, linkage studies, and other epidemiologic
efforts to identify potential risk factors and prevention
opportunities.
``(d) Public Education and Prevention Programs.--The Secretary,
acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the Director of the National Institutes of Health, shall
directly or through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to
eligible entities, develop and conduct public education and prevention
programs established under subsection (b)(2), including--
``(1) public education programs, services, and
demonstrations which are designed to increase general awareness
of stillbirths; and
``(2) the development of tools for the education of health
professionals and pregnant women about the early-warning signs
of stillbirth, which may include monitoring of fetal movement
or baby in-utero.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2009
and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through
2013.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The heading of part B of title XI of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300c-12 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following: ``and stillbirth''.
SEC. 4. ENHANCING PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVITIES RELATED TO SUDDEN UNEXPECTED
INFANT DEATH.
(a) In General.--Part B of title XI of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 300c-12 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1124. NATIONAL REGISTRY FOR SUDDEN UNEXPECTED INFANT DEATHS.
``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `sudden, unexpected
infant deaths' (referred to in this section as `SUID') means infant
deaths that have no obvious cause of death, are not the result of a
chronic disease or known illness, are unexpected, and not explainable
without a more careful examination. These deaths may include deaths due
to suffocation, poisoning, injuries, falls, sudden infant death
syndrome, or previously unrecognized illness or disorder.
``(b) Establishment.--The Secretary, acting through the
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the
Director of the National Institutes of Health, and in consultation with
national health organizations and professional societies with
experience and expertise relating to reducing SUID, shall establish a
population-based SUID case registry that can facilitate the
understanding of the root causes, rates, and trends of SUID.
``(c) National Registry.--The national registry established under
subsection (b) shall facilitate the collection, analysis, and
dissemination of data by--
``(1) implementing a surveillance and monitoring system
based on thorough and complete death scene investigation data,
clinical history, and autopsy findings;
``(2) collecting standardized information about the
environmental, medical, social, and genetic circumstances that
may correlate with infant deaths (including sleep environment
and the quality of the death scene investigation) from the SUID
Initiative Reporting Form or equivalent, as well as other law
enforcement, medical examiner, coroner, emergency medical
services (EMS), and medical records;
``(3) promoting the use of Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention standardized SUID death investigation and reporting
tools as well as standardized autopsy protocols;
``(4) establishing a standardized classification system for
defining subcategories of SIDS and SUID for surveillance and
prevention research activities;
``(5) supporting multidisciplinary infant death reviews
such as those performed by child death review committees and
fetal infant mortality committees to collect and review the
standardized information and accurately and consistently
classify and characterize SUID; and
``(6) improving public reporting of surveillance and
descriptive epidemiology of SUID by supplementing vital
statistics data.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2009
and such sums as necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through
2013.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The heading of part B of title XI of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300c-12 et seq.), as amended by
section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following: ``,
and sudden unexpected infant death''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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