Bill Text: TX HCR86 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Expressing support for equitable access to transformative therapies for sickle cell disease.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-18 - Signed by the Governor [HCR86 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HCR86-Enrolled.html
| H.C.R. No. 86 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited | ||
| hemoglobin disorder, but despite its high mortality rates and | ||
| severe economic impact, the need for effective therapies remains | ||
| unmet; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | ||
| estimates that sickle cell disease affects approximately 100,000 | ||
| Americans, occurring among about 1 in every 365 African American | ||
| births and 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Sickle cell disease can affect any organ, including | ||
| the kidneys, lungs, and spleen; vaso-occlusive crises are common | ||
| among patients, causing recurrent episodes of acute pain and | ||
| leading to irreversible end-organ damage, poor quality of life, and | ||
| stroke; the life expectancy among sufferers is reduced, tragically, | ||
| by some 25 to 30 years; and | ||
| WHEREAS, According to a 2018 study, sickle cell disease | ||
| imposes a nearly $3 billion economic burden on the U.S. healthcare | ||
| system each year, of which 57 percent is attributed to hospital | ||
| inpatient costs; more than 70 percent of patients are insured under | ||
| state Medicaid programs; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The sickle cell disease patient community has long | ||
| been medically underserved; in 1972, then-president Richard Nixon | ||
| signed the Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act and pledged to end neglect | ||
| of the disease, but today, patients still encounter social, | ||
| economic, cultural, and geographic barriers to quality care, | ||
| including inconsistent treatments, high reliance on emergency care | ||
| and public health programs, limited participation in clinical | ||
| trials, and lack of access to the limited number of medical | ||
| providers with appropriate knowledge and experience; and | ||
| WHEREAS, With rapid advancement in such technologies as gene | ||
| editing, sickle cell disease stakeholders are working diligently to | ||
| expand availability of the transformative therapies that are | ||
| currently building clinical momentum; in 2018, the National | ||
| Institutes of Health launched the National Heart, Lung, and Blood | ||
| Institute Cure Sickle Cell Initiative to accelerate the development | ||
| of therapies to cure the disease; at the end of the following year, | ||
| the Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for a | ||
| new treatment, and it has granted Orphan Drug designation to sickle | ||
| cell disease therapies in order to encourage scientific innovation; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, The costs of sickle cell disease are enormous in | ||
| both human and economic terms, but medical science provides hope of | ||
| a long-awaited cure; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby express support for equitable access to transformative | ||
| therapies for sickle cell disease. | ||
| J. Johnson of Harris | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 86 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 18, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 3 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 86 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
| 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
