Focus Group about Cigarette Smoking during Pregnancy - legislative authority

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Excerpted from: U.S. Code TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE;
CHAPTER 6A—PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; SUBCHAPTER II—GENERAL
POWERS AND DUTIES; Part A—Research and Investigations
Section 241: Research and investigations generally
(a) Authority of Secretary
The Secretary shall conduct in the Service, and encourage, cooperate with, and render
assistance to other appropriate public authorities, scientific institutions, and scientists in
the conduct of, and promote the coordination of, research, investigations, experiments,
demonstrations, and studies relating to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, control, and
prevention of physical and mental diseases and impairments of man, including water
purification, sewage treatment, and pollution of lakes and streams. In carrying out the
foregoing the Secretary is authorized to (1) collect and make available through publications and other appropriate means,
information as to, and the practical application of, such research and other
activities;
(2) make available research facilities of the Service to appropriate public
authorities, and to health officials and scientists engaged in special study;
(3) make grants-in-aid to universities, hospitals, laboratories, and other public or
private institutions, and to individuals for such research projects as are
recommended by the advisory council to the entity of the Department
supporting such projects and make, upon recommendation of the advisory
council to the appropriate entity of the Department, grants-in-aid to public or
nonprofit universities, hospitals, laboratories, and other institutions for the
general support of their research;
(4) secure from time to time and for such periods as he deems advisable, the
assistance and advice of experts, scholars, and consultants from the United
States or abroad;
(5) for purposes of study, admit and treat at institutions, hospitals, and stations of
the Service, persons not otherwise eligible for such treatment;
(6) make available, to health officials, scientists, and appropriate public and other
nonprofit institutions and organizations, technical advice and assistance on the
application of statistical methods to experiments, studies, and surveys in
health and medical fields;
(7) enter into contracts, including contracts for research in accordance with and
subject to the provisions of law applicable to contracts entered into by the
military departments under sections 2353 and 2354 of title 10, except that
determination, approval, and certification required thereby shall be by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services; and
(8) adopt, upon recommendations of the advisory councils to the appropriate
entities of the Department or, with respect to mental health, the National
Advisory Mental Health Council, such additional means as the Secretary
considers necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.

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The Secretary may make available to individuals and entities, for biomedical
and behavioral research, substances and living organisms. Such substances
and organisms shall be made available under such terms and conditions
(including payment for them) as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(b) Testing for carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and other harmful biological
effects; consultation
(1) The Secretary shall conduct and may support through grants and contracts
studies and testing of substances for carcinogenicity, teratogenicity,
mutagenicity, and other harmful biological effects. In carrying out this
paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with entities of the Federal Government,
outside of the Department of Health and Human Services, engaged in
comparable activities. The Secretary, upon request of such an entity and under
appropriate arrangements for the payment of expenses, may conduct for such
entity studies and testing of substances for carcinogenicity, teratogenicity,
mutagenicity, and other harmful biological effects.
(2)(A) The Secretary shall establish a comprehensive program of research into the
biological effects of low-level ionizing radiation under which program the
Secretary shall conduct such research and may support such research by
others through grants and contracts.
(B) The Secretary shall conduct a comprehensive review of Federal programs of
research on the biological effects of ionizing radiation.
(3) The Secretary shall conduct and may support through grants and contracts
research and studies on human nutrition, with particular emphasis on the role
of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of disease and on the maintenance
and promotion of health, and programs for the dissemination of information
respecting human nutrition to health professionals and the public. In carrying
out activities under this paragraph, the Secretary shall provide for the
coordination of such of these activities as are performed by the different
divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services and shall
consult with entities of the Federal Government, outside of the Department of
Health and Human Services, engaged in comparable activities. The Secretary,
upon request of such an entity and under appropriate arrangements for the
payment of expenses, may conduct and support such activities for such entity.
(4) The Secretary shall publish a biennial report which contains (A) a list of all substances (i) which either are known to be carcinogens or
may reasonably be anticipated to be carcinogens and (ii) to which a significant
number of persons residing in the United States are exposed;
(B) information concerning the nature of such exposure and the estimated
number of persons exposed to such substances;
(C) a statement identifying (i) each substance contained in the list under
subparagraph (A) for which no effluent, ambient, or exposure standard has
been established by a Federal agency, and (ii) for each effluent, ambient, or
exposure standard established by a Federal agency with respect to a substance
contained in the list under subparagraph (A), the extent to which, on the basis
of available medical, scientific, or other data, such standard, and the

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implementation of such standard by the agency, decreases the risk to public
health from exposure to the substance; and (D) a description of (i) each
request received during the year involved - (I) from a Federal agency outside
the Department of Health and Human Services for the Secretary, or (II) from
an entity within the Department of Health and Human Services to any other
entity within the Department, to conduct research into, or testing for, the
carcinogenicity of substances or to provide information described in clause (ii)
of subparagraph (C), and (ii) how the Secretary and each such other entity,
respectively, have responded to each such request.
(5) The authority of the Secretary to enter into any contract for the conduct of any
study, testing, program, research, or review, or assessment under this
subsection shall be effective for any fiscal year only to such extent or in such
amounts as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts.
(c) Diseases not significantly occurring in United States The Secretary may
conduct biomedical research, directly or through grants or contracts, for the
identification, control, treatment, and prevention of diseases (including
tropical diseases) which do not occur to a significant extent in the United
States.
(d) Protection of privacy of individuals who are research subjects The
Secretary may authorize persons engaged in biomedical, behavioral, clinical,
or other research (including research on mental health, including research on
the use and effect of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs) to protect the
privacy of individuals who are the subject of such research by withholding
from all persons not connected with the conduct of such research the names or
other identifying characteristics of such individuals. Persons so authorized to
protect the privacy of such individuals may not be compelled in any Federal,
State, or local civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceedings
to identify such individuals.