Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2678 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2678
5	5	To provide for further comprehensive research at the National Institute of
6	6	Neurological Disorders and Stroke on unruptured intracranial aneurysms,
7	7	and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	APRIL7, 2025
10	10	Mr. F
11	11	ITZPATRICK(for himself, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mr. RUTHERFORD,
12	12	and Ms. S
13	13	CANLON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
14	14	the Committee on Energy and Commerce
15	15	A BILL
16	16	To provide for further comprehensive research at the Na-
17	17	tional Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
18	18	on unruptured intracranial aneurysms, and for other pur-
19	19	poses.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
21	21	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22	22	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
23	23	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ellie Helton, Lisa 4
24	24	Colagrossi, Kristen Shafer Englert, Teresa Anne Law-5
25	25	rence, and Jennifer Sedney Focused Research Act’’ or 6
26	26	‘‘Ellie’s Law’’. 7
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29	29	•HR 2678 IH
30	30	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1
31	31	The Congress makes the following findings: 2
32	32	(1) An estimated 6.8 million people in the 3
33	33	United States, or 1 in 50 people, have an 4
34	34	unruptured brain aneurysm. 5
35	35	(2) Each year, an estimated 30,000 people in 6
36	36	the United States suffer a brain aneurysm rupture. 7
37	37	Ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in about 50 per-8
38	38	cent of cases. Of those who survive, about 66 per-9
39	39	cent suffer some permanent neurological deficit. 10
40	40	(3) Brain aneurysms are more likely to occur in 11
41	41	women than in men by a 3 to 2 ratio and nearly 12
42	42	twice as likely to rupture in African Americans (2.1 13
43	43	to 1 ratio) and Hispanics (1.67 to 1 ratio) than 14
44	44	Caucasians. This Act represents all those who have 15
45	45	been affected and died due to a ruptured brain an-16
46	46	eurysm, and their loved ones. People who experi-17
47	47	enced a brain aneurysm rupture include the fol-18
48	48	lowing: 19
49	49	(A) Ellie Helton. On July 16, 2014, Ellie 20
50	50	Helton, a vibrant, loving 14-year-old from Apex, 21
51	51	North Carolina, passed away as a result of a 22
52	52	ruptured aneurysm, stunning her parents, two 23
53	53	sisters, and many, many loved ones. A day ear-24
54	54	lier, on her second day of high school, she woke 25
55	55	up with a terrible headache after a plum-sized 26
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58	58	•HR 2678 IH
59	59	aneurysm on her brain stem ruptured. While 1
60	60	she suffered headaches throughout her life, she 2
61	61	was never diagnosed. Ellie was an avid reader 3
62	62	and excellent student, loved the arts, and was 4
63	63	incredibly creative. She had an unwavering, 5
64	64	constant love for the family and friends in her 6
65	65	life. 7
66	66	(B) Lisa Colagrossi. On March 20, 2015, 8
67	67	Lisa Colagrossi—WABC Eyewitness News re-9
68	68	porter, wife of 17 years, and mother of two 10
69	69	sons—unexpectedly passed away at the age of 11
70	70	49 years after suffering a massive ruptured 12
71	71	brain aneurysm. Despite experiencing one of 13
72	72	the classic warning signs of a brain aneurysm 14
73	73	(the ‘‘worst headache of my life’’), Lisa’s pass-15
74	74	ing came as a tremendous shock to her family 16
75	75	and friends, who did not know what a brain an-17
76	76	eurysm was, let alone its signs and symptoms. 18
77	77	She is remembered for being a loving wife, a 19
78	78	mother, and a successful reporter, and for her 20
79	79	love of the New York Rangers. 21
80	80	(C) Kristen Shafer Englert. On November 22
81	81	24, 2013, Kristen Shafer Englert, a devoted 23
82	82	wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend, 24
83	83	passed away from a ruptured brain aneurysm 25
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87	87	at the age of 25, just weeks after giving birth 1
88	88	to her son. Prior to her passing, she went to the 2
89	89	emergency room with symptoms of a brain an-3
90	90	eurysm and was sent home without a scan. 4
91	91	Kristen was a dedicated teacher who loved chil-5
92	92	dren. She was thrilled to become a mother. 6
93	93	Sadly, she only experienced motherhood for a 7
94	94	few short days. Kristen’s family members have 8
95	95	been dedicated advocates since her passing. 9
96	96	(D) Teresa Anne Lawrence. On December 10
97	97	8, 1983, Teresa Anne Lawrence, a devoted 11
98	98	mother of three, beloved wife, and staple of her 12
99	99	community, collapsed while visiting her son’s 13
100	100	school. She had been struggling with and taking 14
101	101	medication for hypertension for several years. 15
102	102	At age 34, after being unconscious for four 16
103	103	days, she passed away as a result of a brain an-17
104	104	eurysm. Her loving husband and extended fam-18
105	105	ily were left to raise their children, whom Te-19
106	106	resa cherished so much. 20
107	107	(E) Jennifer Sedney. On December 25, 21
108	108	2013, Jennifer Sedney, a beautiful, accom-22
109	109	plished young woman, passed away suddenly at 23
110	110	the age of 27 from a ruptured brain aneurysm. 24
111	111	Her only symptom was the ‘‘worst headache of 25
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115	115	her life’’, which none of her friends or family 1
116	116	realized was a symptom of a potentially fatal 2
117	117	condition. Jenny was a jogger, a disciplined ex-3
118	118	erciser, and a successful health care consultant 4
119	119	and had recently launched a health blog found-5
120	120	ed on three principles—‘‘bee curious, bee radi-6
121	121	ant, bee well’’. Her brother, mother, and father, 7
122	122	and a large devoted network of friends and rel-8
123	123	atives, remember her every day. 9
124	124	(4) Brain aneurysm ruptures have a significant 10
125	125	fiscal impact on survivors, caretakers, and the health 11
126	126	care community. The annual estimated pre-insur-12
127	127	ance, direct cost of brain aneurysm ruptures to pa-13
128	128	tients is approximately $2,000,000,000, and the me-14
129	129	dian expected patient payment is $114,000. The 15
130	130	length of stay in the intensive care unit is the larg-16
131	131	est driver of cost for brain aneurysm ruptures, and 17
132	132	estimates do not reflect indirect costs including trav-18
133	133	el, food, child care, and wage losses for patients and 19
134	134	caretakers. 20
135	135	(5) Despite the widespread prevalence of this 21
136	136	condition and the high societal cost it imposes on the 22
137	137	Nation, the Federal Government only spends ap-23
138	138	proximately $2.94 per year on brain aneurysm re-24
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141	141	•HR 2678 IH
142	142	search for each person afflicted with a brain aneu-1
143	143	rysm. 2
144	144	(6) The first three iterations of the Inter-3
145	145	national Study on Unruptured Intracranial Aneu-4
146	146	rysms (ISUIA) have advanced researchers’ and clini-5
147	147	cians’ understanding of how to most effectively man-6
148	148	age and treat unruptured intracranial aneurysms. 7
149	149	SEC. 3. FUNDING. 8
150	150	(a) A
151	151	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To con-9
152	152	duct or support further comprehensive research on 10
153	153	unruptured intracranial aneurysms, studying a broader 11
154	154	patient population diversified by age, sex, and race, there 12
155	155	is authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute 13
156	156	of Neurological Disorders and Stroke $20,000,000 for 14
157	157	each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, to remain avail-15
158	158	able through September 30, 2033. 16
159	159	(b) S
160	160	UPPLEMENT, NOTSUPPLANT.—Any funds 17
161	161	made available pursuant to this section shall supplement, 18
162	162	not supplant, other funding made available for research 19
163	163	on brain aneurysms. 20
164	164	Æ
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