BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AJR 51
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 21, 2014

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                              Richard S. Gordon, Chair
                    AJR 51 (Brown) - As Amended:  August 18, 2014
           
          SUBJECT  :   Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Recognizes the month of September 2014, as Sickle  
          Cell Anemia Awareness Month in California, and urges Congress of  
          the United States to support the President's continuation of  
          funding for sickle cell anemia centers and research.   
          Specifically,  this resolution  makes the following legislative  
          findings:

          1)Sickle cell anemia and sickle cell disease refer to a group of  
            inherited disorders that affect red blood cells causing the  
            person's body to produce abnormally shaped red blood cells  
            that resemble a crescent or sickle of which do not last as  
            long as round blood cells, causing anemia.

          2)It is estimated that more than 90,000 Americans have sickle  
            cell anemia; one in every 500 African Americans and one in  
            every 36,000 Latino births are affected.

          3)Sickle cell anemia can be a life-threatening condition, and  
            access to comprehensive care can be limited by social,  
            economic, cultural, and geographic barriers; and the average  
            cost of hospitalization for sickle cell anemia in 2004 was  
            $6,223 and the total cost for 84,000 hospital admissions was  
            $488,000,000; of which 65 percent was covered by Medicaid  
            funds.

          4)In 1972, the Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act was signed into  
            law by President Richard Nixon after pledging that his  
            administration would "reverse the record of neglect on the  
            dreaded disease" by increasing funding for and expanding  
            sickle cell anemia-related programs, including the development  
            of comprehensive sickle cell anemia centers.

          5)A potentially groundbreaking investigational drug, GMI 1070,  
            designed to treat painful vaso-occlusive crises, which occur  
            when red blood cells lump together and impede blood flow in  
            sickle cell patients, has been found to be safe following  
            clinical trials at University of California, Davis.








                                                                  AJR 51
                                                                  Page  2


           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          None on file

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800