Trump admin is "destroying medical research," Senate report finds
Summary
Jay Bhattacharya, former NIH director, faced the Senate HELP Committee, defending significant funding cuts while navigating vaccine discussions. Concurrently, Sen. Bernie Sanders released a report criticizing the Trump administration for undermining medical research and patient care.
Key Insights
What specific impacts did the Senate report attribute to the Trump administration's NIH funding cuts?
The Senate report documented the defunding of over 300 clinical trials, termination or freezing of at least $561 million in research on cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and heart disease, and a $2.7 billion effective cut to NIH funding in the first three months of 2025, including a 31% reduction in cancer research.
What is the NIH and why is its funding critical for medical research?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest funder of biomedical research in the U.S., supporting grants for clinical trials and studies on diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease; cuts disrupt ongoing research, halt trials, and delay treatments for major health issues.