By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, to fund a grant program supporting research on valvular heart disease, a condition that claimed the life of his wife, has been signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The bill is known as the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act, or CAROL Act, and honors Barr’s wife, Carol Leavell Barr, who lost her life in 2020 to sudden cardiac arrest most likely brought on by a ventricular arrythmia.
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr with his late wife, Carol
Barr said he was happy to announce the signing.
“This bill unlocks critical funding through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to further research on valvular heart disease to prevent countless other families from facing the same loss that my family did. I cannot thank enough all the many advocates who championed this bill to passage and enactment, and I am excited to see the impact this legislation has on countless families across the United States!”
A number of medical groups and women’s health advocates supported the measure.
