83rd Legislative Session Update
House Concurrent Resolution Number 98 is the bill that has decided to designate the month of May, starting in 2013, as “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness” month. ALS is commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. ALS is a fatal disease that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that are associated with motor skills. Military personnel are over twice as likely to develop ALS in their lifetime. As such, the Department of Veterans Affairs has a strong presence in ALS awareness and cure seeking advocacy. From the time of diagnosis, those afflicted are only expected to live two to five years. It affects around 30,000 Americans, with almost 6,000 diagnosed every year.