PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT

(References in brackets [ ] are to title 42, United States Code)

TITLE I-SHORT TITLE AND DEFINITIONS

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. [201n] This Act may be cited as the "Public Health Service Act".

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 2. [201] When used in this Act

(a) The term "Service" means the Public Health Service;

(b) The term "Surgeon General" means the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service;

(c) Unless the context otherwise requires, the term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare;

(d) The term "regulations", except when otherwise specified, means rules and regulations made by the Surgeon General with the approval of the Secretary;

(e) The term "executive department" means any executive department, agency, or independent establishment of the United States or any corporation wholly owned by the United States;

(f) Except as provided in sections 314(g)(4)(B), 318(c)(1), 331(h)(3), 335(5), 361(d), 701(9), 1002(c), 1401(13), 1531(1), and 1633(1), the term "State" includes, in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(g) The term "possession" includes, among other possessions, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands;

(h) [Repealed.]

(i) The term "vessel" includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water, exclusive of aircraft and amphibious contrivances;

(j) The term "habit-forming narcotic drug" or "narcotic" means opium and coca leaves and the several alkaloids derived therefrom, the best known of these alkaloids being morphia, heroin, and codeine, obtained from opium, and cocaine derived from the coca plant; all compounds, salts, preparations, or other derivatives obtained either from the raw material or from the various alkaloids; Indian hemp and its various derivatives, compounds, and preparations, and peyote in its various forms; isonipecaine and its derivatives, compounds, salts and preparations; opiates (as defined in section 3228(f) of the Internal Revenue Code);

(k) The term "addict" means any person who habitually uses any habit-forming narcotic drugs so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety, or welfare, or who is or has been so far addicted to the use of such habit-forming narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his addiction;

(1) The term "psychiatric disorders" includes diseases of the nervous system which affect mental health;

(m) The term "State mental health authority" means the State health authority, except that, in the case of any State in which there is a single State agency, other than the State health authority, charged with responsibility for administering the mental health program of the State, it means such other State agency;

(n) The term "heart diseases" means diseases of the heart and circulation;

(0) The term "dental diseases and conditions" means diseases and conditions affecting teeth and their supporting structures, and other related diseases of the mouth;

(p) The term "uniformed service" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, or Coast and Geodetic Survey; and

(q) The term "drug dependent person" means a person who is using a controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act) and who is in a state of psychic or physical dependence, or both, arising from the use of that substance on a continuous basis. Drug dependence is characterized by behavioral and other responses which include a strong compulsion to take the substance on a continuous basis in order to experience its psychic effects or to avoid the discomfort caused by its absence.

TITLE II-ADMINISTRATION

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

SEC. 201. [202] The Public Health Service in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare shall be administered by the Surgeon General under the supervision and direction of the Secretary.

ORGANIZATION

SEC. 202.1 [203] The Service shall consist of (1) the Office of the Surgeon General, (2) the National Institutes of Health, (3) the Bureau of Medical Services, and (4) the Bureau of State Services. The Surgeon General is authorized and directed to assign to the Office of the Surgeon General, to the National Institutes of Health, to the Bureau of Medical Services, and to the Bureau of State Services, respectively, the several functions of the Service, and to establish within them such divisions, sections and other units as he may find necessary; and from time to time, abolish, transfer, and consolidate divisions, sections, and other units and assign their functions and personnel in such manner as he may find necessary for efficient operation of the Service. No division shall be established, abolished, or transferred, and no divisions shall be consolidated, except with the approval of the Secretary. The National Institutes of Health shall be administered as a part of the field service. The Surgeon General may delegate to any officer or employee of the Service such of his powers and duties under this Act, except the making of regulations, as he may deem necessary or expedient.

COMMISSIONED CORPS

SEC. 203. [204] There shall be in the Service a commissioned Regular Corps and, for the purpose of securing a reserve for duty in the Service in time of national emergency, a Reserve Corps. All commissioned officers shall be citizens and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to the Classification Act of 1923,2 as amended. Commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps shall be appointed by the President and commissioned officers of the Regular Corps shall be appointed by him by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps shall at all times be subject to call to active duty by the Surgeon General, including active duty for the purpose of training and active duty for the purpose of determining their fitness for appointment in the Regular Corps. Warrant officers may be appointed to the Service for the

1 The organizational units specified in this section were all abolished as statutory entities by Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966. 2 Civil service and classification laws are now codified in title 5, United States Code.

purpose of providing support to the health and delivery systems maintained by the Service and any warrant officer appointed to the Service shall be considered for purposes of this Act and title 37, United States Code, to be a commissioned officer within the commissioned corps of the Service.

SURGEON GENERAL

SEC. 204.1 [205] The Surgeon General shall be appointed from the Regular Corps for a four-year term by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Surgeon General shall be appointed from individuals who (1) are members of the Regular Corps, and (2) have specialized training or significant experience in public health programs. Upon the expiration of such term, the Surgeon General, unless reappointed, shall revert to the grade and number in the Regular or Reserve Corps that he would have occupied had he not served as Surgeon General.

DEPUTY SURGEON GENERAL AND ASSISTANT SURGEONS GENERAL

SEC. 205.1 [206] (a) The Surgeon General shall assign one commissioned officer from the Regular Corps to administer the Office of the Surgeon General, to act as Surgeon General during the absence or disability of the Surgeon General or in the event of a vacancy in that office, and to perform such other duties as the Surgeon General may prescribe, and while so assigned he shall have the title of Deputy Surgeon General.

(b) The Surgeon General shall assign eight commissioned officers from the Regular Corps to be, respectively, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Chief of the Bureau of State Services, the Chief of the Bureau of Medical Services, the Chief Medical Officer of the United States Coast Guard, the Chief Dental Officer of the Service, the Chief Nurse Officer of the Service, the Chief Pharmacist Officer of the Service, and the Chief Sanitary Engineering Officer of the Service, and while so serving they shall each have the title of Assistant Surgeon General.

(c)(1) The Surgeon General, with the approval of the Secretary, is authorized to create special temporary positions in the grade of Assistant Surgeons General when necessary for the proper staffing of the Service. The Surgeon General may assign officers of either the Regular Corps or the Reserve Corps to any such temporary position, and while so serving they shall each have the title of Assistant Surgeon General.

(2) Except as provided in this paragraph, the number of special temporary positions created by the Surgeon General under paragraph (1) shall not on any day exceed 1 per centum of the highest number, during the ninety days preceding such day, of officers of the Regular Corps on active duty and officers of the Reserve Corps on active duty for more than thirty days. If on any day the number of such special temporary positions exceeds such 1 per centum limi

1 Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966 abolished as statutory positions the positions of Surgeon General and Deputy Surgeon General and abolished as statutory agencies (and consequently the directorships) the National Institutes of Health, the Bureau of State Services, and the Bureau of Medical Services; but see section 471 which provides that the President shall appoint the Director of the National Institutes of Health.