Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18

Introduced by Senator Liu

February 28, 2013

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18—Relative to Pain Awareness Month and Women In Pain Awareness Day.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 18, as introduced, Liu. Pain Awareness Month and Women In Pain Awareness Day.

This measure would recognize September 2013 as Pain Awareness Month and call upon all Californians to observe that month by learning how to improve the quality of life of Californians suffering from pain. This measure would also recognize September 13, 2013, as Women In Pain Awareness Day to draw public attention to gender disparity in pain assessment and treatment in the United States.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, More than 100 million Americans live with chronic
pain caused by various diseases or disorders, and, each year, nearly
25 million Americans suffer with acute pain; and

WHEREAS, Though medical knowledge and technology exist
to relieve or greatly ease pain, most pain is untreated, undertreated,
or improperly treated, and many health care professionals are still
unaware of how to effectively treat pain; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, Women have a higher prevalence than men of
chronic pain syndromes and diseases associated with chronic pain,
such as fibromyalgia, complex pain syndrome, and osteoarthritis,
and women respond differently to certain analgesics; and

WHEREAS, Women’s pain reports are taken less seriously than
those of men, and women receive less aggressive treatment than
men for their pain; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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;
and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the month of
September 2013 as Pain Awareness Month, and calls upon all
Californians to observe this month by participating in appropriate
ceremonies and activities, and by learning how to improve the
quality of life for people in California suffering from pain; and be
it further

Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes September 13, 2013,
as Women In Pain Awareness Day to draw public attention to the
important need to raise awareness concerning gender disparity in
pain assessment and treatment in the United States; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.