118th CONGRESS 2d Session |
To direct the Secretary of Defense to replace certain syringes of the Department of Defense.
August 30, 2024
Ms. Sherrill introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
To direct the Secretary of Defense to replace certain syringes of the Department of Defense.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Safe Military Medical Equipment Act”.
SEC. 2. Plan for identifying and replacing syringes of concern.
(a) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency and the Director of the Defense Health Agency, shall develop and implement a plan to review all medical syringes in the inventories and stockpiles of the Department of Defense and current and planned acquisitions of the Department to—
(1) identify medical syringes that have been subject to a Food and Drug Administration Import Alert or meet the conditions of a Food and Drug Administration Safety Communication; and
(2) replace such medical syringes with medical syringes produced domestically or produced in partners or allies of the United States.
(b) Coordinated plan contents.—The Secretary of Defense shall include in the plan required under subsection (a) the following:
(1) An identification of any medical syringes in the inventories and stockpiles of the Department of Defense and which the Department is acquiring or plans to acquire that have been subject to a Food and Drug Administration Import Alert or meet the conditions of a Food and Drug Administration Safety Communication made in the past five years.
(2) A process for the Department of Defense to replace the medical syringes described in paragraph (1) that are in the inventories and stockpiles of the Department with those that—
(A) are produced domestically or in partners or allies of the United States;
(B) are not subject to an Import Alert described in such paragraph; and
(C) do not meet the conditions of a Safety Communication described in such paragraph.
(3) A process for the Department of Defense to cease the acquisition of medical syringes described in paragraph (1) and ensure that the Department acquires only medical syringes that—
(A) are produced domestically or in partners or allies of the United States;
(B) are not subject to an Import Alert described in such paragraph; and
(C) do not meet the conditions of a Safety Communication described in such paragraph.
(4) A process enabling the Department of Defense to—
(A) track Food and Drug Administration Import Alerts and Safety Communications regarding medical syringes;
(B) review the inventories, stockpiles, and current and planned acquisitions of the Department for medical syringes that are subject to such Import Alerts or that meet the conditions of such Safety Communications; and
(C) replace such medical syringes with medical syringes that are produced domestically or produced in partners or allies of the United States.
(c) Report.—Upon developing the plan required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report describing such plan, including—
(1) the number of medical syringes, if any, in the inventories and stockpiles of the Department of Defense that have been subject to a Food and Drug Administration Import Alert or meet the conditions of a Food and Drug Administration Safety Communication made in the past five years;
(2) a description of any planned or ongoing acquisition by the Department of medical syringes that have been subject to a Food and Drug Administration Import Alert or meet the conditions of a Food and Drug Administration Safety Communication made in the past five years, including acquisitions with respect to which contracts have not yet been awarded and existing agreements under which such syringes may be acquired for the Department;
(3) for medical syringes described in paragraph (1) or with respect to which the Department is carrying out an acquisition described in paragraph (2), the product name, manufacturer, and country of origin; and
(4) an explanation of the process described in subsection (b)(4) that will be implemented under such plan.