An eight-year-old boy whose mother helped push legislation giving terminally ill patients access to experimental treatments got some special attention from President Trump as he signed the “right-to-try” measure into law on Wednesday.
As Trump delivered remarks at the bill’s signing ceremony, he reached over and grabbed Jordan McLinn’s hand.
“If I looked like that I would have been president 10 years earlier,” Trump said. “If I had that face — if I had that head of hair I would have been president so long ago. That’s great.”
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McLinn also received one of the pens that Trump used to sign the “right-to-try” legislation, which was passed by the Senate earlier this month before being sent to the president for final approval.
McLinn, an Indiana native, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal disease that weakens the muscles. His mother, Laura, lobbied Indiana lawmakers to advance a “right-to-try” measure in the state.
That measure was signed in 2015 by then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is now Trump’s vice president.
Because the Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency, federal legislation was required to allow terminally ill patients to try experimental medications.