Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1273 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to study and report on the prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma in veterans who served in the Vietnam theater of operations during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. ZELDIN (for himself, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. POSEY, and Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to study and report on the prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma in vet- erans who served in the Vietnam theater of operations during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vietnam Veterans 4 Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1273.IH H1273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1273 IH SEC. 2. STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF 1 CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA IN VETERANS WHO 2 SERVED IN THE VIETNAM THEATER OF OPER- 3 ATIONS DURING THE VIETNAM ERA. 4 (a) EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY.—Not later than 120 5 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 6 of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Director of 7 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the De- 8 partment of Health and Human Services, shall commence 9 an epidemiological study on the prevalence of 10 cholangiocarcinoma in covered veterans of the Vietnam 11 era, using data from the Veterans Affairs Central Cancer 12 Registry and the National Program of Cancer Registries. 13 The study shall— 14 (1) identify the rate of incidence of 15 cholangiocarcinoma in covered veterans of the Viet- 16 nam era and in residents of the United States, from 17 the beginning of the Vietnam era to the date of en- 18 actment of this Act; and 19 (2) for each of the groups specified in para- 20 graph (1), identify the percentage of individuals with 21 cholangiocarcinoma by various demographic charac- 22 teristics, including by age, gender, race, ethnicity, 23 and the geographic location of the patient at the 24 time of diagnosis. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1273.IH H1273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1273 IH (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 1 after the completion of the study under subsection (a), the 2 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing— 3 (1) the results of the study under subsection 4 (a); and 5 (2) recommendations for administrative or leg- 6 islative actions required to address issues identified 7 in the study under subsection (a). 8 (c) CONTINUED TRACKING OF 9 CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA IN COVERED VETERANS OF THE 10 VIETNAM ERA.—The Secretary shall track the prevalence 11 of cholangiocarcinoma in covered veterans of the Vietnam 12 era using the Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry, 13 and provide such information to Congress as required 14 under subsection (d). 15 (d) FOLLOW-UP REPORTS.—The Secretary shall pe- 16 riodically submit to the Congress an updated report under 17 subsection (b), as determined by the Secretary. 18 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 20 of Veterans Affairs. 21 (2) The term ‘‘Vietnam era’’ has the meaning 22 given such term in section 101 of title 38, United 23 States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1273.IH H1273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1273 IH (3) The term ‘‘covered veterans of the Vietnam 1 era’’ means veterans who served in the Vietnam the- 2 ater of operations during the Vietnam era. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1273.IH H1273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS