Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scientists, ACLU Sue NIH Over 'Ideological Purge' Of Research Grants
A group of scientists and health groups sued the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday, arguing that an 鈥渋deological purge鈥 of research funding is illegal and threatens medical cures. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, hundreds of NIH research grants have been abruptly canceled for science that mentions the words diversity, gender and vaccine hesitancy, as well as other politically charged topics. The suit was filed by the American Public Health Association, unions representing scientists and some researchers who were stripped of grants. (4/2)
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the National Institutes of Health has conducted an 鈥渙ngoing ideological purge of critical research projects鈥 that violates federal law and is unconstitutional.聽The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts district court on behalf of four researchers and three unions with members who rely on NIH funding, says that the federal science agency 鈥渁bruptly cancelled鈥 hundreds of research projects 鈥渨ithout scientifically-valid explanation or cause.鈥澛(Bush, 4/2)
More on the 'DEI' purge 鈥
Kelly Houske was walking her dogs one morning when she developed stabbing pain in her back that brought her to her knees. Houske, who had survived her first heart attack only a year earlier, was worried she was experiencing a second. When Houske arrived at a local emergency room by ambulance, she hoped for compassionate treatment. Instead, her doctor appeared cold and kept his distance, standing in the doorway without ever entering her room, Houske said. (Szabo, 4/1)
麻豆女优 Health News: Trump鈥檚 DEI Undoing Undermines Hard-Won Accommodations For Disabled People
For years, White House press conferences included sign language interpreters for the deaf. No longer. Interpreters have been noticeably absent from Trump administration press briefings, advocacy groups say. Gone, too, are the American Sign Language interpretations that used to appear on the White House鈥檚 YouTube channel. A White House webpage on accessibility, whitehouse.gov/accessibility, has also ceased working. (Armour, 4/3)
More on funding and research cuts 鈥
As the Trump administration makes major cuts to federal health agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, cancer patients and doctors are worried about stalls in research and medicine that could affect treatments. The NIH is the world's leading medical research agency and largest funder of cancer research, providing about $8 billion in cancer science funding annually. (Moniuszko, 4/2)
If a child in New York City showed up with a fever and a rash that might be measles, it should be simple to have a blood test quickly confirm one way or the other. But聽 $100 million in federal funding聽 was just cut from New York City鈥檚 health budget, and that included money聽for staff and supplies at its public health labs. (Cooney, 4/2)
Most teenagers don鈥檛 use drugs. There鈥檚 data to show that because of a 50-year-old government survey that may now be in jeopardy. The entire 17-member U.S. government team responsible for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health received layoff notices Tuesday, as part of the overhaul of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It鈥檚 not clear whether there is an alternative plan to analyze the data, which local and state governments use to develop prevention measures and treatment services. (Johnson, 4/2)
President Donald Trump鈥檚 allies and adversaries battled over the best ways to improve the U.S. health care system at POLITICO鈥檚 Health Care Summit on Wednesday, highlighting deep divides over the upheaval the administration has unleashed. The partisans sparred after Trump dismissed thousands of health agency employees, launched a massive restructuring of the nation鈥檚 health agencies, and proposed stripping billions from university research budgets. (Hooper and Paun, 4/2)