Florida Senate - 2015                            (NP)    SR 1588
       
       
        
       By Senator Margolis
       
       
       
       
       
       35-01744-15                                           20151588__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing May 2015 as “Lupus Awareness
    3         Month” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, each year, the Lupus Foundation of America
    6  designates May as Lupus Awareness Month to show support for the
    7  estimated 1.5 million Americans who have lupus, including an
    8  estimated 100,000 Floridians, and
    9         WHEREAS, lupus is a cruel and mysterious chronic autoimmune
   10  disease in which the immune system is unbalanced, causing
   11  inflammation and tissue damage to virtually every organ system
   12  in the body, and
   13         WHEREAS, lupus can affect any part of the body, including
   14  the skin, lungs, heart, kidneys, and brain, which can lead to
   15  seizures, strokes, heart attacks, miscarriages, and organ
   16  failure, and
   17         WHEREAS, while lupus strikes mostly women of childbearing
   18  age, no one is safe from lupus, with African Americans,
   19  Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans two to three times more
   20  likely than Caucasians to develop lupus, a disparity that
   21  remains unexplained, and
   22         WHEREAS, lupus can be particularly difficult to diagnose
   23  because its symptoms are similar to those of many other
   24  illnesses, and major gaps exist in understanding the causes and
   25  consequences of lupus, and
   26         WHEREAS, it takes four or more years and three or more
   27  doctor visits before more than half of all people with lupus
   28  obtain a correct diagnosis, and
   29         WHEREAS, only one new drug has been approved by the United
   30  States Food and Drug Administration specifically for lupus in
   31  more than 50 years, and current treatments for the disease can
   32  have damaging side effects, NOW, THEREFORE,
   33  
   34  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   35  
   36         That May 2015 is recognized as “Lupus Awareness Month” in
   37  Florida.