HR 19
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2021
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Ken Cooley, Chair
HR 19 (Mullin) – As Introduced February 4, 2021
SUBJECT: Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week.
SUMMARY: Proclaims the week of May 3, 2021, as Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week, to
raise awareness of this potentially debilitating disease. Specifically, this resolution makes the
following legislative findings:
1) Many people with serious, chronic mental illness, such as schizophrenia and other
schizoaffective disorders, bipolar disorder, or severe depression, require treatment with
medications that work as dopamine receptor blocking agents (DRBAs), including
antipsychotics. While ongoing treatment with these medications can be very helpful, and
even lifesaving, for many people, it can also lead to Tardive Dyskinesia (TD).
2) TD is a movement disorder that is characterized by random, involuntary, and uncontrolled
movements of different muscles in the face, trunk, and extremities. In some cases, people
may experience movement of the arms, legs, fingers, and toes. In some cases, it may affect
the tongue, lips, and jaw. In other cases, symptoms may include swaying movements of the
trunk or hips and may impact the muscles associated with walking, speech, eating, and
breathing.
3) TD can develop months, years, or decades after a person starts taking DRBAs, and even after
they have discontinued use of those medications. Not everyone who takes a DRBA develops
TD, but if it develops it is often permanent.
4) Common risk factors for TD include advanced age and alcoholism or other substance abuse
disorders. Postmenopausal women and people with a mood disorder are also at higher risk of
developing TD.
5) A person is at higher risk for TD after taking DRBAs for three months or longer, but the
longer the person is on these medications, the higher the risk of developing TD. Studies
suggest that the overall risk of developing TD following prolonged exposure to DRBAs is
between 10 and 30 percent. It is estimated that over 60,000 Californians suffer from TD.
6) Years of difficult and challenging research have resulted in scientific breakthroughs in the
last year, with two new treatments for TD approved by the United States Food and Drug
Administration. TD is often unrecognized and patients suffering from the illness are
commonly misdiagnosed. Regular screening for TD in patients taking DRBA medications is
recommended by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
7) Patients who take DRBAs should be regularly evaluated by their health care providers to
ensure that any signs of TD are recognized. Health care providers should use a rating scale
recommended by the APA.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
 HR 19
Page 2
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Chronic Care Coalition
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Erke / RLS. / (916) 319-2800