ENROLLED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 113
BY REPRESENTATIVE FREEMAN
A RESOLUTION
To designate May 1-7, 2023 as Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week.
WHEREAS, many persons with serious and chronic mental illnesses such as
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression, or severe gastrointestinal disorders
such as gastroparesis, nausea, and vomiting, require treatment with medications that work
as dopamine receptor blocking agents, or DRBAs, including antipsychotics; and
WHEREAS, while ongoing treatments with these medications can be very helpful,
and even lifesaving for many people, it can also lead to Tardive Dyskinesia, or TD; and
WHEREAS, TD is a movement disorder that is characterized by random,
involuntary, and uncontrolled movements of different muscles in the face, trunk, and
extremities; and
WHEREAS, TD can develop months, years, or decades after a person starts taking
DRBAs and even after he or she has discontinued use of these medications; and
WHEREAS, not everyone who takes a DRBA develops TD, but if it develops, it is
often permanent; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that over 600,000 Americans suffer from TD; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in every four
patients receiving long-term treatment with an antipsychotic medication will experience TD;
and
WHEREAS, years of difficult and challenging research have resulted in recent
scientific breakthroughs, with two new treatments for TD approved by the United States
Food and Drug Administration; and
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WHEREAS, TD is often unrecognized, and patients suffering from the illness are
commonly misdiagnosed; and
WHEREAS, regular screening for TD in patients taking DRBA medications is
recommended by the American Psychiatric Association; and
WHEREAS, the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana can raise
awareness of TD in the public and medical communities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby designate the week of May 1-7, 2023, as Tardive
Dyskinesia Awareness Week and does hereby encourage all citizens of Louisiana to become
better informed and aware of Tardive Dyskinesia.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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