Senator Markey has long been a vocal advocate for children’s health care and medical research. In the House of Representatives, Markey was the founder and co-chair of the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Caucus and authored a bill to increase the ability of individuals with rare disorders such as CF to participate in clinical trials. Signed into law in October 2010, Markey’s Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act allows patients, including children, with rare diseases to participate in critical research without losing their public healthcare benefits. Senator Markey has also worked to ensure that medical devices – particularly those for children – are approved quickly while protecting quality and patient safety. In 2007, Markey passed a law that incentivizes the development of devices for children with rare diseases. The law also funds “pediatric device consortia,” which bring together innovators and device manufacturers to stimulate the development and availability of medical devices for children. He also took a lead role in improving and reauthorizing the bipartisan Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act and the Pediatric Research Equity Act. These laws were originally passed to ensure that medications that are used in children are actually tested and labeled appropriately by providing companies extra patent life on their products for conducting pediatric clinical trials.
