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House urges voluntary reporting system for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Summary
The House adopted a resolution asking the Tennessee Department of Health to create a voluntary CMT reporting system to improve case counts and help pursue federal grants and specialized care.
The Tennessee House adopted House Joint Resolution 1 20 on March 3 urging the Tennessee Department of Health to implement a voluntary reporting system for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT).
Representative Powers, who brought the resolution, said accurate counts are needed to improve competitiveness for federal grants and specialized care. He told the chamber that the commonly cited figure of roughly 25,000 Tennesseans affected "was a number derived from multiplying a national percentage times our population," and that the voluntary reporting system would provide a more accurate state count.
Powers said CMT is a progressive neurological disease that attacks peripheral nerves, affecting gait and hand function and leading to neuropathy in legs, ankles and feet. He said the degree of disability varies widely and that better data could inform care planning and grant applications.
The resolution asks the Department of Health to implement a voluntary system that uses existing health records and produce an annual report back to the House and Senate health committees. The sponsor moved adoption and renewed his motion; the clerk recorded the vote as 94 in favor, 0 opposed. The chair declared the resolution adopted.
The resolution urges action; it does not appropriate funds or change statutory reporting requirements. No implementation timeline or specific technical approach beyond "through existing health records" was specified during floor remarks.
