On My 14, representatives from the office of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, Jr. met with a group of PN supporters regarding the inclusion of Defense Department funding for causes and treatments of neuropathy. Van Hollen is very interested in the topic. The proposed inclusion would earmark about $1 million into the Pentagon’s budget for neuropathy.
Steve Klitzman, leader of the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Peripheral Neuropathy support group helped the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy organize the event. Below are his remarks before the group.
Steve Klitzman Talking Points for Van Hollen PN Meeting , May 14, 2025
Thank you Mark and the Van Hollen staff for organizing and participating in this briefing.
My name is Steve Klitzman. We appreciate very much the chance to tell you how PN impacts our lives and how important it is to increase federal funding for PN research. This includes the pending annual DOD research money through its Peer Reviewed Medical Research program.
I’m a retired 80-year-old lawyer who lives in Chevy Chase and been a Chris Van Hollen supporter for many years. I’ve had PN numbness in my feet for 18 years since March 2007. Just recently it’s spreading to my fingers.
* I have the idiopathic variety of PN which about 40% of PN folks have- this means doctors don’t know the etiolgy or cause so it’s hard to treat. The PN community calls this the “pathetic idiot” variety. Over the years I’ve tried to turn the lemons I’ve received into lemonade. Since 2010 I’ve organized and led two PN support groups in VA and MD with nearly 500 now on our email lists. Today there are 3 PN support groups serving Marylanders with PN.
in Bethesda-Chevy Chase, in the Riderwood community in Silver Spring , and in the DC-wide support group which covers the entire DMV area.
I’m also glad today that Pat Gualtieri (Periperhal Neuropathy Support Network) and Glenn Ribotsky (Western Neuropathy Association), fellow support group members are on the Zoom call with us and from whom we’ll hear shortly.
So how has PN impacted my life?
PN numbness in my feet and now hands has seriously limited my mobility . So this has adversely impacted my ability to travel, to walk and hike long or even shorter distances, and to drive a car, all of which I miss doing very much. I use a Rollator every day to keep my balance and prevent falls, which are our greatest fear.
To quote from our one-page Mission Statement. An estimated 30 million Americans have PN, with estimated annual costs similar to Alzheimer’s. But more Americans have PN than have Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Epilepsy or Stroke combined.Yet public awareness and funding support for research is extremely small. And because PN is not a killer disease like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or stroke, it doesn’t get as much public attention and research money as it deserves.
That’s why this Defense Dept. money for PN research is so important. Every research dollar helps to find more effective treatments and, one day, a cure. I refer you for more details to Mark Vietch’s excellent briefing sheets.
[Our goals are to:]
1) Renew the PRMRP designation of “peripheral neuropathy” in the fiscal year 2025 Defense Appropriations Act
2) Restore funding cuts to NIH and CDMRP budgets
3) Include report language to better coordinate PN research among NIH filings.