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The Bleeding and Clotting Disorders Institute facilitated a press conference with State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth and the Deveraux Hubbard II Foundation Monday morning to highlight the challenges and treatment for individuals impacted by blood disorders, and discussed newly introduced legislation to reduce mortality in Illinois.
Rep. Gordon-Booth introduced House Bill 4172 on Friday October 13, which seeks to increase education efforts, boost awareness and help with the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis. House Bill 4172, which is also known as the “Deveraux Hubbard II Blood Clot Prevention and Treatment Act,” was introduced and filed on World Thrombosis Day, which is a day of awareness that aims to reduce the incidence of morbidity and morality caused by blood clots.
“The fact that we have this opportunity with the leadership of Representative Gordon-Booth to even think that a comprehensive, integrated effort is going to do something to better this is tremendous. It’s an answer to a prayer,” said BCDI CEO/CMO Dr. Michael Tarantino. “To be honest, BCDI serves about 7,000 people all throughout the downstate area. Most of those people have blood clot issues and to have the government’s support in a whole new light, a focus to really address this problem and to do formally what the Hubbard’s have been doing for the last ten years in saving lives by helping people recognize the risks, steering them to the right place to get medical attention for this is priceless.”
The founders of the Deveraux Hubbard II Foundation- Deveraux Hubbard and Kristie Hubbard- helped pave the way for this new legislation that was introduced. The Hubbard’s tragically lost their son in 2013, Deveraux Hubbard II, from a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot. He was a 19 year old sophomore at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
“He developed a blood clot that moved to his lungs and broke off and actually killed him instantly in our arms,” said Kristie Hubbard. “And that is what is called a pulmonary embolism. We learned that tragically. But since that day, we work hard to teach others the signs and symptoms so that they would not have to suffer the way our family has suffered. And it’s funny to say that we’ve been blessed, but any time a person is able to live because of the knowledge that we share, we call that a blessing. So that’s our commitment and this opportunity to have this to be a legislative act in the state of Illinois, wow. We could not be more elated.”
Rep. Gordon-Booth was inspired by the Hubbard Family to introduce this new legislation, which has the support of the Illinois Department of Public Health. When drafting this new legislation, Rep. Gordon-Booth worked alongside BCDI CFO/COO Becky Burns to key in specifically on what can be achieved with House Bill 4172.
“With House Bill 4172, we are looking to do two things. Specifically, we’re looking to add additional resources and revenue specific to the education and awareness of pulmonary embolisms,” Rep Gordon-Booth said. “We want to be able to ensure that folks around the state of Illinois have the ability to provide this education and advocacy at a much higher level. We know that this saves lives and we want to be able to prevent loss of life wherever we can. The second leg of this legislation will require the Illinois Department of Public Health to engage in an advisory committee that will continue and go down a path of research and advisory. The advisory committee will also begin to funnel information back to the appropriations side relative to the education and the advocacy. So those two arms will work hand in hand to hopefully continue to prevent the loss of life unnecessarily.”
BCDI is honored to be a part of this tremendous moment of recognition for a problem that our staff faces every day. 60,000 people per year are burdened with a pulmonary embolism, and it is estimated that 10,000 – 20,000 people a year die from a pulmonary embolism. In total, BCDI serves over 7,000 patients across not only the state of Illinois, but throughout the country.
“I’m thankful for the critical role BCDI plays not just for residents in Peoria, but for thousands across the state,” Rep. Gordon-Booth added. “We’re so blessed in this community because outside of Chicago, BCDI happens to be the only facility that provides this level of specialized care for individuals dealing with blood clot disorders. It is absolutely a blessing to be a resident of this region. So thank you to BCDI for your leadership.”
Thank you to the local news outlets in Peoria for covering this event- below are the links to central Illinois news articles regarding the press conference: