NPAC In-Depth: Senator Joann Ginal
Why did you decide to join the NPAC Board?
I was honored to be asked to become part of the Board of the National Pain Advocacy Center.
I realized that, in our focus on the opioid crisis, there was a population of people who were not considered in the laws that passed. These unintended consequences and the fact that there was a group of people living with pain whose voices needed to be heard are why I brought forward Senate Bill 144 (SB23-144), Prescription Drugs for Chronic Pain, which protects people who use opioids to manage pain from discrimination in care. I wanted to ensure people who rely on opioid medications for everyday life can stay on them.
What are some of your proudest achievements as an elected representative?
My legislative accomplishments in the Colorado Senate and House are many. Many of the bills I brought enabled people without a voice to get the help they needed. Most are in the areas of health and public safety. I brought legislation to increase the transparency of prescription drug costs and bills creating uniform standards for prior authorization of prescription medication that reduced consumer costs. In 2015, I brought the first state-wide bill for telehealth, helping patients see their healthcare providers faster and more conveniently, which was especially needed in rural and underserved urban areas. I was a primary sponsor for the End-of-Life Options Act, providing medical assistance in dying to terminally ill persons who wished to end their lives, which went to the ballot and won overwhelmingly. I also passed a law enabling terminally ill patients to participate in clinical trials or use investigational drugs (also known as the “Dallas Buyer’s Club” bill). Colorado was the first in the nation to pass such a law, which 36 other states have passed since 2014.
You have a science background in reproductive endocrinology. How did your background as a scientist inform your policy work? What made you pivot from science to public service as an elected representative?
I’ve worked in the health field my whole career. I taught premed students as a college professor. I was a medical liaison in clinical trials related to women’s health, neurology, and cardiology. My PhD in Reproductive Endocrinology is in Veterinary Medicine. I was trying to design an injectable hormone blocker to prevent invasive spay and neutering and cut down on pet overpopulation. This "Magic bullet," so to speak, is still in the experimental stages in wild horse and elk populations in Northern Colorado and Wyoming.
The bills I sponsored reflect my interest in health. I have also served in leadership positions on health-related committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives, including as Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Chairwoman of the House Health, Insurance & Environment Committee, and member of the House Public Health Care & Human Services Committee.
Life, people, and science have always been my passions. Entering public office seemed an ideal way to merge those interests and make genuine change.
What do you like to do in your free time? Tell us something that isn’t easily uncovered with a Google search.
I'm not sure folks know that I was a Biologist guide for three years in the jungles of the Amazon Rainforest, leading three-week eco trips through Iquitos, Peru, Colombia, and Manaus, Brazil. I led 28 trips; it was one of the best times of my life. I studied pink dolphins on the Amazon River and interacted with many tribes and shamans. I also led photo safaris through Kenya and Tanzania, all in the mid-1990s.
My personal goal is to visit and study all the world’s deserts. I am in the process of accomplishing that goal, having recently returned from South America in October and November of 2024. There are many more deserts to explore.