BILL NUMBER: SCR 77CHAPTERED 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.