6 U.S.C. § 597a — Medical countermeasures
submitted 5 years ago by Pub. L. 107-296 to r/title-6-DOMESTIC-SECURITY · 588 words · no verdicts yet
This section requires a medical-countermeasures program, subject to appropriations, to protect Department employees and working animals and keep the Department operating during specified health emergencies.
(a) Subject to available appropriations, the Secretary* must establish, as appropriate, a medical-countermeasures program within Department* components to (1) prepare and protect employees and working animals during a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, a naturally occurring disease outbreak, another health event, or a pandemic; and (2) support continuity of Department operations.
(b) Through the Chief Medical Officer, the Secretary must oversee the program and set standards for storage, security, dispensing, and records; stockpiling antibiotics, antivirals, antidotes, therapeutics, and radiological countermeasures; partnerships allowing vendors to pre-position needed supplies nationwide based on risk and employee density; oversight and guidance for dispensing; rapid deployment and dispensing; employee training; and dispensing exercises.
(c) The Secretary, through the Chief Medical Officer, must create a working group of appropriate Department representatives to maintain standards and consistent guidance.
(d) Within 120 days after money becomes available, the Chief Medical Officer must give the Secretary an integrated logistics plan covering a method for choosing types and amounts and reevaluating it, replenishment, and tracking, reporting, and reconciling inventories and purchases.
(e) Within 120 days after December 27, 2021, the Secretary must transfer related program and personnel resources from the Under Secretary for Management to the Chief Medical Officer.
(f) The Secretary, through the Chief Medical Officer, must use a risk-based method to choose stockpile types and amounts and may use Department chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear risk assessments and relevant HHS guidance.
(g) Within 180 days after December 27, 2021, the Secretary must brief the specified Senate and House committees on the plan and implementation.
(h) “Medical countermeasures” means antibiotics, antivirals, antidotes, therapeutics, radiological countermeasures, and other measures that may protect Department employees and working animals during the listed attacks, outbreaks, health events, or pandemic.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary* shall, as appropriate, establish a medical countermeasures program within the components of the Department* to—
facilitate personnel readiness and protection for the employees and working animals of the Department in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, naturally occurring disease outbreak, other event impacting health, or pandemic; and
support the mission continuity of the Department.
The Secretary, acting through the Chief Medical Officer of the Department, shall—
provide programmatic oversight of the medical countermeasures program established under subsection (a); and
develop standards for—
medical countermeasure storage, security, dispensing, and documentation;
maintaining a stockpile of medical countermeasures, including antibiotics, antivirals, antidotes, therapeutics, and radiological countermeasures, as appropriate;
ensuring adequate partnerships with manufacturers and executive agencies that enable advance prepositioning by vendors of inventories of appropriate medical countermeasures in strategic locations nationwide, based on risk and employee density, in accordance with applicable Federal statutes and regulations;
providing oversight and guidance regarding the dispensing of stockpiled medical countermeasures;
ensuring rapid deployment and dispensing of medical countermeasures in a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, naturally occurring disease outbreak, other event impacting health, or pandemic;
providing training to employees of the Department on medical countermeasures; and
supporting dispensing exercises.
The Secretary, acting through the Chief Medical Officer of the Department, shall establish a medical countermeasures working group comprised of representatives from appropriate components and offices of the Department to ensure that medical countermeasures standards are maintained and guidance is consistent.
Not later than 120 days after the date on which appropriations are made available to carry out subsection (a), the Chief Medical Officer shall develop and submit to the Secretary an integrated logistics support plan for medical countermeasures, including—
a methodology for determining the ideal types and quantities of medical countermeasures to stockpile and how frequently such methodology shall be reevaluated;
a replenishment plan; and
inventory tracking, reporting, and reconciliation procedures for existing stockpiles and new medical countermeasure purchases.
Not later than 120 days after December 27, 2021, the Secretary shall transfer all medical countermeasures-related programmatic and personnel resources from the Under Secretary for Management to the Chief Medical Officer.
In determining the types and quantities of medical countermeasures to stockpile under subsection (d), the Secretary, acting through the Chief Medical Officer of the Department—
shall use a risk-based methodology for evaluating types and quantities of medical countermeasures required; and
may use, if available—
chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear risk assessments of the Department; and
guidance on medical countermeasures of the Office* of the Assistant Secretary* for Preparedness and Response and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2021, the Secretary shall provide a briefing to the Committee on Homeland* Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives regarding—
the plan developed under subsection (d); and
implementation of the requirements of this section.
In this section, the term “medical countermeasures” means antibiotics, antivirals, antidotes, therapeutics, radiological countermeasures, and other countermeasures that may be deployed to protect the employees and working animals of the Department in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, naturally occurring disease outbreak, other event impacting health, or pandemic.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 107–296, title XIX, § 1932, as added Pub. L. 117–81, div. F, title LXIV, § 6408(a), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2404.)
- 2021Enacted · Pub. L. 107-296 · 135 Stat. 2404
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-296 on 2021-12-27.
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