Florida Senate - 2022 (NP) SR 1206
By Senator Rodriguez
39-01240-22 20221206__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing the week of May 1, 2022, as
3 “Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week” in Florida.
4
5 WHEREAS, many people who have a serious, chronic mental
6 illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe
7 depression, or who have a gastrointestinal disorder like
8 gastroparesis or symptoms like nausea and vomiting, require
9 treatment with medications that work as dopamine receptor
10 blocking agents (DRBAs), including antipsychotics, and
11 WHEREAS, while ongoing treatment with these medications can
12 be very helpful, and even lifesaving, it can also lead those
13 undergoing treatment to experience tardive dyskinesia (TD), and
14 WHEREAS, TD is a movement disorder characterized by random,
15 involuntary, and uncontrolled movements of different muscles in
16 the face, trunk, and extremities, and
17 WHEREAS, TD can develop months, years, or decades after a
18 person starts taking DRBAs, even after he or she has
19 discontinued use of those medications, and is often permanent,
20 and
21 WHEREAS, it is estimated that more than 600,000 Americans
22 suffer from TD, and the National Alliance for Mental Illness
23 reports that one in every four patients receiving long-term
24 treatment with an antipsychotic medication will experience TD,
25 and
26 WHEREAS, TD research has resulted in recent scientific
27 breakthroughs, including two new treatments approved by the
28 United States Food and Drug Administration, and
29 WHEREAS, TD is often unrecognized, and patients suffering
30 from the illness are commonly misdiagnosed, leading the American
31 Psychiatric Association to recommend heightened awareness of and
32 regular screening for TD in patients taking DRBAs, NOW,
33 THEREFORE,
34
35 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
36
37 That the week of May 1, 2022, is recognized as “Tardive
38 Dyskinesia Awareness Week” in Florida.