BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SCR 54
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   September 1, 2011

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                  SCR 54 (Alquist) - As Introduced:  August 15, 2011

           SENATE VOTE  :   38-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Pain Awareness Month and Women In Pain Awareness Day.

           SUMMARY  :   Recognizes the month of September 2011 as Pain 
          Awareness Month; calls upon Californians to observe the month by 
          participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities, and by 
          learning to improve the quality of life for people suffering 
          from pain; and  recognizes September 16, 2011, as Women In Pain 
          Awareness Day to draw attention to gender disparity in pain 
          assessment and treatment in the United States.  Specifically, 
           this resolution  makes the following legislative findings:

          1)More than 75 million Americans live with chronic pain caused 
            by various diseases or disorders; and, though medical 
            knowledge and technology exist to relieve or greatly ease 
            pain, most pain is untreated, undertreated or improperly 
            treated.

          2)Women have a higher prevalence than men of chronic pain 
            syndromes and diseases associated with chronic pain; yet, 
            women's pain reports are more likely to be discounted as 
            emotional or psychogenic and, therefore, not real.

          3)It is the collective mission of the California-based Partners 
            for Understanding Pain to provide practical information for 
            people with pain, inform health care professionals about pain 
            management, and serve as an advocate for people experiencing 
            pain.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          None on file.
           
           Opposition 








                                                                 SCR 54
                                                                 Page  2

           
          None on file.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Anna McCabe / RLS. / (916) 319-2800