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Letter to the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, on the Need for Safer Drugs.

August 05, 1962

[Released August 5, 1962. Dated August 3, 1962]

Dear Senator:

Pursuant to our discussion, I am enclosing drafts of amendments essential to strengthen S. 1552 in order to assure the necessary protection to the American consumer in obtaining safer and better drugs.

Each of the amendments is explained in the accompanying draft material.

Our efforts to protect the American people against unsafe and worthless drug products is a source of great concern to us all. The enclosed amendments together with the improvements in existing law which your committee has already approved, will help assure the American people that any drug on the market today is safe and effective for its intended use; that it has the strength and quality represented; that the promotion material tells the full story about the drug--its possible bad effects as well as the good--and the whole truth about its therapeutic usefulness; and that it was produced in carefully inspected drug establishments under adequate manufacturing controls. I urge the adoption of this vitally important legislation.

Sincerely,

JOHN F. KENNEDY

[The Honorable James O. Eastland, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.]

Note: On October 10, 1962, the President approved S. 1552, the Drug Amendments of 1962 (Public Law 87-781, 76 Stat. 780).

The letter was released at Hyannis, Mass., together with a brief summary of the proposed amendments.

John F. Kennedy, Letter to the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, on the Need for Safer Drugs. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236448

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