Bill Text: CA SCR77 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Pain Awareness Month and Women in Pain Awareness Day.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-08-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 146, Statutes of 2015. [SCR77 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SCR77-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SCR 77 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 146
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 26, 2015
ADOPTED IN SENATE JULY 6, 2015
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
JUNE 29, 2015
Relative to Pain Awareness Month.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 77, 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.
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.
