Senator says Arkansas is participating in pharma study on PANS/PANDAS; outside expert’s Zoom presentation postponed

Senator Kim Hammer told the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that, through partnerships with Children’s Hospital and UAMS, Arkansas is participating in a pharmaceutical study on PANS/PANDAS and that materials are being distributed to primary care providers statewide. "We are participants in a approximately $34,000,000 pharma study that is involving treatment of pan and pandas and there are Arkansans that are involved in this," Hammer said.

Hammer asked to recognize a remote speaker, Mr. Ryan, who was expected to explain the center-of-excellence work and the pharma study; the remote participant failed to appear on the committee’s monitor while staff attempted to authorize him to join. Committee members agreed, for the sake of time and given the technical difficulty, to reschedule the detailed Zoom briefing for a future meeting and indicated members could refer constituents to the UAMS center of excellence in the interim.

The committee did not record further details about the study’s design, funding sources beyond Senator Hammer’s statement, or enrollment instructions; the committee directed staff to reschedule the speaker for the next meeting.