WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) announced that their bipartisan legislation to help improve the lives of patients with muscular dystrophy has been signed into law. The Senators’ legislation will update and improve 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.

“We are coming closer to a cure for muscular dystrophy, and bipartisan support for targeted and effective research is helping make a crucial difference,” Wicker said. “The gains we have made hold the promise of even greater breakthroughs to come and, one day, a cure.”

“This law means a better chance of a longer, more active life for the 100,000 Americans with muscular dystrophies,” Klobuchar said. “The MD CARE Act has helped spur critical research since it passed in 2001, and now it will continue to help advance this research so 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The MD CARE Act was originally enacted in 2001 and was reauthorized in 2008.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. This legislation 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.