PPMD’s 2024 Advocacy Conference

What are we asking Congress to do?

This year’s request to Congress is broken into two parts. We are asking members of the House and Senate to:

  1. Sign the FY25 Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Letter
  2. Cosponsor the BENEFIT Act, S. 526/H.R. 1092

Helpful Resources for Advocates

ASK #1 – Sign Duchenne Funding Letter

Each year, we ask our members of Congress to sign a letter to the Appropriations Committee supporting funding for Duchenne research and programs next year. The Appropriations Committee is the committee that oversees funding the federal government.

The funding letter requests the following:

  • $8 million in funding for Muscular Dystrophy related programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  • $15 million in funding for the Department of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) for Duchenne research.

ASK #2 – Cosponsor BENEFIT (S. 526/H.R. 1092)

We ask that Senators and Members of Congress support the BENEFIT Act, S. 526 led by Sens. Wicker (R-MS) and Klobuchar (D-MN) in the Senate and H.R. 1092 led by Representatives Matsui (D-CA) and Wenstrup (R-OH) in the House.

What does the legislation do?

  • This legislation builds on prior laws and will make sure patient engagement information is fully considered as part of the FDA benefit-risk framework, by requiring FDA to disclose how they use or incorporate patient experience data in the review of new therapies.
  • Patient Experience Data is data that is collected from patients and families with the intention to provide information about patients’ experiences with a disease or condition, including the impact of the disease or condition or related therapy or, and patient preferences for treatments.

Take Action

During March 4-5, PPMD advocates — people with Duchenne, parents, siblings, grandparents, and other family members and friends will be participating in meetings with Congressional offices, urging them to support vital efforts that will support continued progress for our community. Click here to take action and help reinforce our message to Congress from home.