A US federal judge on Wednesday issued an order to prevent the Trump administration from implementing major cuts in medical research funding. The funding reductions, which many experts argue would endanger patients and lead to job losses, were halted.
The proposed policy from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would have resulted in research groups losing hundreds of millions of dollars. This funding is used to cover the indirect costs associated with studying various diseases, including Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease, and ranges from clinical trials for new treatments to the basic laboratory research that lays the groundwork for breakthroughs.
Numerous states and organizations, including universities, hospitals, and research institutions across the country, filed separate lawsuits to prevent these cuts, citing the “irreparable damage” they would cause.
US District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston initially blocked the funding reductions temporarily last month. However, on Wednesday, she issued a preliminary injunction to extend this block while the lawsuits continue.
As the primary financier of biomedical research, the NIH awarded approximately $35 billion in grants to research groups in the previous year. This sum is split into direct costs, such as researchers’ salaries and lab supplies, and indirect costs, which are the administrative and facility costs required to support the research.
The Trump administration had labeled these costs as merely “overhead,” a characterization disputed by universities and hospitals, which argue that these expenses are crucial. They encompass a variety of elements, such as electricity for complex equipment, hazardous waste disposal, staff to ensure safety regulations are followed, and janitorial workers.
Previously, the government negotiated these rates with institutions. For instance, an institution with a 50% indirect cost rate would receive an additional $50,000 to cover indirect expenses for a $100,000 project. The new NIH policy would limit indirect costs to a flat rate of 15%, a move calculated to save the agency $4 billion annually.
Current and former health officials have expressed surprise at this change, emphasizing that federal authorities already scrutinize and negotiate the amount of funding allocated to indirect costs.
Dr. David J. Skorton of the Association of American Medical Colleges, one of the litigants, praised the ruling. He stated that these unlawful reductions would impede medical progress and cost lives, emphasizing that NIH-funded research “benefits every person and community in America.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, which supervises the NIH, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
