BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 54|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 54
Author: Alquist (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SUBJECT : Pain Awareness Month and Women in Pain
Awareness Day
SOURCE : Forgrace.com
DIGEST : This resolution recognizes September 2011 as
Pain Awareness Month and calls upon all Californians to
observe that month by learning how to improve the quality
of life of Californians suffering from pain. This
resolution also recognizes September 16, 2011, as 'Women in
Pain Awareness Day' to draw public attention to the gender
disparity in pain assessment and treatment in the United
States.
ANALYSIS :
Resolution findings:
1.More than 75 million Americans live with chronic pain
caused by various diseases or disorders, and each year,
nearly 25 million Americans suffer with acute pain.
2.Though medical knowledge and technology exist to relieve
or greatly ease pain, most pain is untreated,
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undertreated, or improperly treated, and many health care
professionals are still unaware of how to effectively
treat pain.
3.People who suffer from chronic pain often are stigmatized
and marginalized and often are not informed about the
right to effective pain assessment and management, and
most people with pain, including those at the end of
life, get little or no relief.
4.Women have a higher prevalence than men of chronic pain
syndromes and diseases associated with chronic pain, such
as fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, or
osteoarthritis, and women respond differently to certain
analgesics.
5.Women's pain reports are taken less seriously than those
of men and women receive less aggressive treatment than
men for their pain.
6.Women have developed a number of coping mechanisms to
deal with pain, and this may contribute to a general
perception that they can endure more pain and that their
pain does not need to be taken as seriously.
7.Women more frequently report pain to a health care
provider, but are more likely to have their pain reports
discounted as emotional or psychogenic and, therefore,
not real.
8.The California-based Partners for Understanding Pain is a
growing coalition of pain sufferers, physicians, nurses,
social workers, pharmacists, therapists, civic leaders,
nonprofit organizations, and health care businesses whose
mission is to improve the quality of life for people in
California experiencing pain.
9.It is the collective mission of this movement to provide
practical information for people with pain, inform health
care professionals about pain management, and serve as an
advocate for people experiencing pain.
This resolution recognizes September 2011 as 'Pain
Awareness Month' and calls upon all Californians to observe
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that month by learning how to improve the quality of life
of Californians suffering from pain. This resolution also
recognizes September 16, 2011, as 'Women In Pain Awareness
Day' to draw public attention to the gender disparity in
pain assessment and treatment in the United States.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/11)
Forgrace.com (source)
CTW:do 8/23/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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