42 U.S.C. § 202
Section 202 · Administration and supervision of Service
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 28 court decisions — leading case Palmer v. Liggett Group, Inc. (1987)
Most recently applied in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc. (June 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services shall be administered by the Assistant Secretary for Health under the supervision and direction of the Secretary.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1993—Pub. L. 103–43 substituted “Health and Human Services” for “Health, Education, and Welfare” and “Assistant Secretary for Health” for “Surgeon General”.
Transfer of Functions
Functions of Federal Security Administrator transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and all agencies of Federal Security Agency transferred to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by section 5 of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1953, set out as a note under section 3501 of this title. Federal Security Agency and office of Administrator abolished by section 8 of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1953. Secretary and Department of Health, Education, and Welfare redesignated Secretary and Department of Health and Human Services by section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.
International Health Administration
Ex. Ord. No. 10399, Sept. 27, 1952, 17 F.R. 8648, designated Surgeon General to perform certain duties under International Sanitary Regulations of World Health Organization.