Senate Bill sb1544

    Florida Senate - 2002                                  SB 1544

    By Senator Wasserman Schultz





    32-568A-02

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to developmental disabilities;

  3         amending s. 393.063, F.S.; adding the genetic

  4         disease familial dysautonomia to the list of

  5         disabilities defined and covered under ch. 393,

  6         F.S.; providing an effective date.

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  8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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10         Section 1.  Subsections (12) and (19) of section

11  393.063, Florida Statutes, are amended, present subsections

12  (21) through (52) of that section are redesignated as

13  subsections (22) through (53), respectively, and a new

14  subsection (21) is added to that section, to read:

15         393.063  Definitions.--For the purposes of this

16  chapter:

17         (12)  "Developmental disability" means a disorder or

18  syndrome that is attributable to retardation, cerebral palsy,

19  autism, spina bifida, familial dysautonomia, or Prader-Willi

20  syndrome and that constitutes a substantial handicap that can

21  reasonably be expected to continue indefinitely.

22         (19)  "Epilepsy" means a chronic brain disorder of

23  various causes which is characterized by recurrent seizures

24  due to excessive discharge of cerebral neurons.  When found

25  concurrently with retardation, autism, familial dysautonomia,

26  or cerebral palsy, epilepsy is considered a secondary

27  disability for which the client is eligible to receive

28  services to ameliorate this condition according to the

29  provisions of this chapter.

30         (21)  "Familial dysautonomia" means a genetic

31  neurological condition characterized by decreased pain and

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    Florida Senate - 2002                                  SB 1544
    32-568A-02




  1  temperature sensation, absence of overflow tearing, pernicious

  2  vomiting, spine curvature, and blood pressure lability. The

  3  incidence of the disease within the Ashkenazi Jewish

  4  population is one in 3,600, based on an estimated carrier

  5  frequency of one in 32. Genetic testing is available using DNA

  6  diagnostics with an accuracy of 99 percent. The carrier

  7  frequency in non-Jewish individuals is unknown.

  8         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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11                          SENATE SUMMARY

12    Defines the term "familial dysautonomia" and adds this
      genetic disease to the list of developmental disabilities
13    covered under ch. 393, F.S.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.