The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) Huntington’s disease is a chronic progressive inherited disorder of the central nervous system.
(b) The constellation of mental and physical symptoms, the insidious onset of the disorder, and the torment of those at-risk, waiting throughout their lives to learn if they have been spared, conspire to make “Huntington’s disease one of the most diabolical diseases known to man.” Each child of a patient with Huntington’s disease has a 50/50 chance of getting the disease.
(c) Males, females, and all ethnic groups may be affected and there is no effective treatment or cure. Because so little is known about the disease, many people are misdiagnosed and mistreated.
(d) The suicide rate among Huntington’s disease patients is estimated to be seven times the national rate.
(e) The advancement of scientific knowledge about Huntington’s disease, that, because of its extraordinary range of symptoms, serves as an excellent prototype for other major chronic genetic, neurologic, and psychiatric illnesses and diseases of aging, such as epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson’s disease, will reveal fundamental scientific information that may lead to treatment, prevention, and ultimately a cure for an array of inherited disorders that affect millions.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1996.)