HJR17-1019 Summary

• Designates March 24, 2017, as "ALS Awareness Day" in Colorado to recognize the disease that affects approximately 30,000 people in the United States with no known cause or cure

• Notes that approximately 15 people are diagnosed daily with ALS and that veterans are twice as likely to be afflicted; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has recognized ALS as a service-connected disease since 2008

• Urges pharmaceutical companies to make experimental therapies and medicines available to Colorado ALS patients through the state's Right to Try Law, passed in 2014

• Encourages ALS patients to register with the federal ALS Registry, established in 2008, to contribute health data for research and access information about clinical trials

• Commits the Colorado General Assembly to acknowledge researchers, increase awareness and education about ALS, recognize patients and caregivers, and encourage U.S. Congress to fund efforts to end the disease