Pediatric drug testing.

According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Senate voted yesterday to approve a bill (S. 650) that would require drugmakers to include children in the study of drugs intended to be used in minors. Last year a district court invalidated an FDA rule that would have done the same thing on the ground that it was not authorized by statute. The Senate's action yesterday is one step toward providing solid statutory support for such a requirement, which is long overdue.