1.0" ?> 20250HR__005199INT 99 INTRODUCED 2025-07-17 2025 0 HR 51 INT Introduced by Assembly Member Schultz LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Schultz Relative to Pain Awareness Month and Women in Pain Awareness Day. Pain Awareness Month and Women in Pain Awareness Day

WHEREAS, More than 100,000,000 Americans live with chronic pain caused by various diseases or disorders, and nearly 25,000,000 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 are often stigmatized, marginalized, and uninformed 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 syndromes and diseases associated with chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and migraine, 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 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 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 Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly hereby recognizes and declares the month of September 2025 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 Assembly recognizes September 1, 2025, as Women in Pain Awareness Day to draw public attention to the important need to raise awareness concerning gender disparities in pain assessment and treatment in the United States; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.