BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 98
Author: Strickland (R), et al
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
SUBJECT : Spinal muscular atrophy
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution declares August 2010 as Spinal
Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) kills more children than
any other genetic disease.
2. SMA causes degeneration in voluntary muscle movement for
those impacted by the disease, eventually impacting the
ability to walk, sit, crawl, stand, breathe, eat, and
even swallow.
3. One in every 40 people, or nearly 10 million Americans,
unknowingly carries the gene responsible for SMA. Few
have any known family history.
4. SMA is a pan-ethnic disease that does not discriminate
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based on race, ethnicity, or gender.
5. SMA does not impact the mind. Children with SMA are
bright, sensitive, and playful in spite of their failing
bodies.
6. Most children impacted by SMA succumb to the disease
before their second birthday.
7. There is currently no treatment and no cure for SMA, but
the National Institutes of Health selected SMA as the
disease closest to treatment of more than 600
neurological disorders.
8. The nation's leading researchers signed a statement
stressing that, with adequate resources, a viable
treatment or cure is attainable in as little as five
years.
9. SMA research is considered a "model" approach, with the
potential of benefiting millions of people impacted by
other diseases, including ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease,
Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,
Fragile X, and Tay Sachs, among others.
10.Increased awareness of SMA will lead to increased
knowledge and increased support for both disease
research and families affected by the disease, hopefully
leading to a cure.
11.August has been declared as National Spinal Muscular
Atrophy Awareness Month in order to raise awareness and
help promote research into this devastating disease.
This resolution declares August 2010 as Spinal Muscular
Atrophy Awareness Month.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
CTW:mw 6/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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