2007-2008 Bill 4846: Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 117th Session, 2007-2008 3 4 H. 4846 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Moss, Gambrell, Chalk, Erickson, Frye, Spires, J.M. Neal, Coleman, Agnew, Bowen, 10 Bowers, Brady, Branham, G. Brown, Cobb-Hunter, Crawford, Funderburk, Gullick, Hayes, Jennings, 11 Knight, Littlejohn, McLeod, Merrill, Neilson, Ott, Pinson, Sandifer and Young 12 Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22069ab08.doc 13 14 Introduced in the House on March 12, 2008 15 Introduced in the Senate on March 26, 2008 16 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs 17 18 Summary: Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week 19 20 21 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 22 23 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 24 3/12/2008 House Introduced and read first time HJ-9 25 3/12/2008 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-9 26 3/13/2008 House Recalled from Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs 27 HJ-30 28 3/17/2008 Scrivener's error corrected 29 3/25/2008 House Read second time HJ-41 30 3/26/2008 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-27 31 3/26/2008 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-5 32 3/26/2008 Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-5 33 34 35 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 36 37 3/12/2008 38 3/13/2008 39 3/17/2008 40 1 RECALLED 2 March 13, 2008 3 4 H. 4846 5 6 Introduced by Reps. Moss, Gambrell, Chalk, Erickson, Frye, 7 Spires, J.M. Neal, Coleman, Agnew, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, 8 Branham, G. Brown, Cobb-Hunter, Crawford, Funderburk, 9 Gullick, Hayes, Jennings, Knight, Littlejohn, McLeod, Merrill, 10 Neilson, Ott, Pinson, Sandifer and Young 11 12 S. Printed 3/13/08--H. [SEC 3/17/08 3:01 PM] 13 Read the first time March 12, 2008. 14 15

1 [4846-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 53-3-115 SO AS TO DESIGNATE 13 THE THIRD WEEK IN SEPTEMBER AS “MITOCHONDRIAL 14 DISEASE AWARENESS WEEK”. 15 16 Whereas, mitochondria are the power plants in every cell of a 17 person’s body and create more than ninety percent of the energy 18 needed by the body to sustain life and support growth; and 19 20 Whereas, mitochondria might not function correctly due to genetic 21 defects, damage caused by drugs, or damage caused by destructive 22 molecules called free radicals; and 23 24 Whereas, when mitochondria fail, cell injury and cell death follow, 25 and if the process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems 26 begin to fail; and 27 28 Whereas, mitochondrial diseases can cause isolated symptoms like 29 seizures, low blood counts, blindness, deafness, dementia, heart 30 failure, and progressive muscle weakness, but more often they 31 cause failure of several organ systems in sequence; and 32 33 Whereas, although mitochondrial diseases can affect a person at 34 any age; and 35 36 Whereas, it is estimated that more than one in 4,000 children born 37 in the United States each year will develop a mitochondrial disease 38 by ten years of age; and 39 40 Whereas, since mitochondrial disorders mimic others diseases, 41 they might often be under diagnosed; and 42

1 [4846] 1 1 Whereas, currently no cure or effective therapy for mitochondrial 2 disease exists, but early diagnosis can help patients and their 3 families use proper medication and nutritional supplements to 4 improve the quality of life, and even prolong life; and 5 6 Whereas, it is appropriate that all citizens of the State of South 7 Carolina be better informed about mitochondrial diseases and their 8 impact. 9 10 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 11 Carolina: 12 13 SECTION 1. Chapter 3, Title 53 of the 1976 Code is amended to 14 read: 15 16 “Section 53-3-115. The third week of September each year is 17 designated as ‘Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week’ in South 18 Carolina. The citizens of South Carolina are urged to observe the 19 week with appropriate activities and programs.” 20 21 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 22 Governor. 23 ----XX---- 24

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