Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 77

Introduced by Senator Liu

June 29, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 77—Relative to Pain Awareness Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 77, as introduced, Liu. Pain Awareness Month and Women in Pain Awareness Day.

This measure would recognize the month of September 2015 as Pain Awareness Month and call 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. The measure would also recognize September 11, 2015, as Women In Pain Awareness Day, to draw public attention to the 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 nearly 25 million
Americans suffer from acute pain each year; 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, marginalized, and often not informed about the right
to effective pain assessment and management. 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
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, which 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 report pain to health care providers more
frequently than men, 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 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 2015 as Pain Awareness Month, and calls upon all
Californians to observe the 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 11, 2015,
as Women In Pain Awareness Day, to draw public attention to the
important need to raise awareness concerning the 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.