WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today announced that their bipartisan legislation to help improve the lives of patients with muscular dystrophy passed the Senate and is now headed to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The bill updates and improves current law, the Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research & Education (MD CARE) Act, which supports medical research and policies to improve treatments and quality of life for muscular dystrophy patients. The bill passed the House in July.

“Passage of this legislation is an important victory in the fight against muscular dystrophy,” Wicker said. “We have already seen the impact of MD CARE on muscular dystrophy patients who are now living longer, more active lives. This bill will continue to improve the medical research that is vital to the more than 100,000 Americans living with this disease.”

“Today’s action is a huge victory for the 100,000 Americans currently living with muscular dystrophies,” Klobuchar said. “The MD CARE Act has helped spur critical research since it passed in 2001, and this legislation will advance this research to ensure patients receive cutting-edge treatment that improves their quality of life.”

The MD CARE Act was originally enacted in 2001 and was reauthorized in 2008. Klobuchar led the 2008 reauthorization which passed Congress with unanimous consent. Then-Representative Wicker sponsored the MD Care Act in 2001. The bill supports medical research and public health policies designed to improve quality of life and increase life expectancy of children and adults diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. The Paul D. Wellstone MD CARE Amendments Act of 2013 continues this support and works to ensure that efforts are focused on the most critical needs of doctors, patients, and researchers.

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