Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2005

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 109th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

R WeldonSponsor

80 cosponsors · 39 D, 40 R, 1 I

D Maloney DB

R Burton WC

D Clay JAR Ann Davis DK

D Hinchey HHR Hyde CM

R Garrett MOD Owens ZW

R Wamp GA

D Ackerman JB

D Barrow VE

R Ehlers JDR Hayworth TL

D Wasserman Schultz BC

D Rothman MMD Meehan BG

1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem a banned mercury-containing vaccine to be adulterated. Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide that a vaccine is a banned mercury-containing vaccine if one dose of the vaccine contains 1 or more micrograms of mercury in any form.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Feb 17, 2005

Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to declare that an actual or potential bioterrorist incident or other public health emergency makes the administration of such vaccines advisable for a specified period.

Requires the Secretary to prohibit the distribution of banned mercury-containing influenza vaccines that are approved as biological products to: (1) any child under the age of three years old (effective July 1, 2006); (2) pregnant women if the vaccine contains thimerosal (effective July 1, 2006); and (3) any child under the age of six (effective July 1, 2007).

Requires the Secretary to revise the vaccine information included with mercury-containing vaccines to include: (1) a statement that indicates the presence of mercury in the vaccine; (2) information on the availability of any mercury-free or mercury-reduced alternative vaccine and instructions on how to obtain such an alternative vaccine; and (3) a recommendation against administration of any mercury-containing vaccine to a pregnant woman.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should disseminate, with any vaccine-related information, a recommendation against administration of any thimerosal-containing vaccine to a pregnant woman.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Mercury-Free Vaccines Act of 2005

Latest action (Mar 14, 2005): Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Policy area: Health · Origin: House · Introduced: Feb 17, 2005

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.