Project BioShield: Authorities, Appropriations, Acquisitions, and Issues for Congress

Abstract

Many potential chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) terrorism agents lack available medical countermeasures. In 2003, President Bush proposed Project BioShield to address this need. The Project BioShield Act became law in July 2004 (P.L. 108-276). This law has three main provisions: (1) relaxing regulatory requirements for some CBRN terrorism-related spending, including hiring and awarding research grants; (2) guaranteeing a federal government market for new CBRN medical countermeasures; and (3) permitting emergency use of unapproved countermeasures. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has used each of these authorities. The HHS used expedited review authorities to approve 5 contracts and 47 grants related to CBRN countermeasure research and development. The HHS used the authority to guarantee a government market to obligate approximately $2 billion to acquire countermeasures against anthrax, botulism, radiation, and smallpox. The HHS has also employed the emergency use authority several times, including allowing young children with H1N1 "swine" influenza to receive specific antiviral drugs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 22, 2010
Accession Number
ADA513693

Entities

People

  • Frank Gottron

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Homeland Security
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Medical Countermeasures
  • Medical Personnel
  • National Governments
  • Procurement
  • Public Health
  • United States Government
  • Vaccines
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Infectious Disease/Epidemiology