STATEMENT BY TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Secretary of Health and Human Services
On the Signing of the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003

President Bush today signed important new legislation that will improve the quality of health care for our children. The Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003 gives the Food and Drug Administration clear authority to require pediatric studies of drugs when needed to ensure that they are safe and effective for children.

Children need access to effective drugs to treat their ailments, and those drugs should be properly tested for pediatric use rather than just prescribed and sold based on adult testing. This legislation will allow the FDA to require such studies when appropriate and will better assure doctors and parents alike that the drugs used to treat our children are safe and will work as expected.

The administration has worked diligently with Congress to enact this legislation quickly, in order to make FDA's authority clear. I thank all the members who worked hard to make this happen for our nation's children.

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Last Revised: December 3, 2003