MD-CARE Act Signed Into Law Today!
The Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education (MD-CARE) Amendments of 2008 received final Congressional approval on Saturday, September 27, 2008. As expected, the President signed it into law today, October 8, 2008.
The approved legislation – which reauthorizes and updates the MD-CARE Act of 2001 - will escalate research and the development of treatments for several forms of muscular dystrophy.
The newly passed MD-CARE Amendments include several new provisions:
- Expand the NIH Institutes involved to include the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
- Officially name the centers of excellence, the Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Centers, after the late Senator who served as a champion for the MD community.
- The epidemiological data system may be expanded to include health outcomes and reflect patients' changing conditions over time.
- The development and broad dissemination of care considerations for the muscular dystrophies.
- As promising therapies for muscular dystrophies are identified, they are eligible to be processed through an enhanced clinical infrastructure that "fast tracks" research findings into viable therapies for patients.
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