Bill Text: CA SCR18 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 18 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Pain Awareness Month and Women In Pain Awareness Day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-07-03 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 61, Statutes of 2013. [SCR18 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SCR18-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: SCR 18	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  61
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 3, 2013
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MARCH 18, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 1, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Liu

                        FEBRUARY 28, 2013

   Relative to Pain Awareness Month and Women In Pain Awareness Day.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 18, Liu. Pain Awareness Month and Women In Pain Awareness Day.

   This measure would recognize September 2013 as Pain Awareness
Month and call upon all Californians to observe that month by
learning how to improve the quality of life of Californians suffering
from pain. This measure would also recognize September 13, 2013, as
Women In Pain Awareness Day to draw public attention to 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, each year, nearly 25
million Americans suffer with acute pain; 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
and marginalized and often are not informed about the right to
effective pain assessment and management, and 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 chronic pain
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, and this 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 more frequently report pain to a health care
provider, 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
growing 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 2013 as Pain Awareness Month, and calls 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; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes September 13, 2013, as
Women In Pain Awareness Day to draw public attention to the important
need to raise awareness concerning 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.