Just two days into July, with little fanfare or ceremony, President Joe Biden signed a bill called the “Dr. Emmanuel Bilirakis and Honorable Jennifer Wexton National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act.”
Despite the lack of hype around the signing, it’s a pretty big deal and, really, something of a modern miracle as it pertains to the function of federal lawmaking.
The bill, which aims significant federal resources at researching and treating Parkinson’s disease on a national scale, was co-sponsored by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. But it was really born three years ago, through the efforts of Charleston businessman George Manahan, who met with Capito in 2021 to get the ball rolling. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2010, Manahan has been a fierce advocate for Parkinson’s awareness and a tireless fundraiser for medical research on the disease.
He’s had a lot of help from the local community, too.
