In 1972, testicular cancer was the leading murderer of young men and was almost uniformly fatal. Today, the survival rate is 90%.
The drug that causes this miraculous reversal, Cisplatinit would not have been discovered without “indirect funding” from the National Institutes of Health – resources used for all the critical services needed to support clinical research.
Like cisplatin, all groundbreaking cancer treatments you've ever heard of are not in the corporate executive office, but NIH indirect funds pay staff, humming computers, and medical device functions. It started in a university lab that maintains it.
All this could end suddenly Trump administration's plan Retrospectively reduces indirect support between NIHs to 15% of grants. For decades, research institutions have negotiated rates with NIHs in the 25-70% range.
This dramatic cut stops the university from accepting the NIH Research Award. Universities, including myself, often supplement NIH grants with funds from their institutions by more than twice as much. This is a more generous negotiation fee.
It is clear that the characterization of the administration as “waste”, “bureaucracy” or merely “overhead” of indirect costs reflects a dangerous misconception of the value of scientific research.
NIH Funding Basics “High-risk and pre-commercial research” that private-capital ventures and pharmaceutical companies do not invest due to the long horizon to find Cure. From Alzheimer's disease to cancer and heart disease, to funding basic research at NIH, it turns out to be a grand, successful investment.
Nih encourages the economy by ecstatic scientific breakthroughs. recently study It was found that NIH supports 354 of the 356 drugs approved between 2010 and 2019. This means that most of the life-saving drugs that are commonplace today could not have been possible without NIH.
It is estimated All dollars in publicly funded basic research will generate $8.38 in eight years. There are few government investments that can rival the health and economic benefits of NIH funding.
Capping indirect funds destroys biomedical research, the engine of the US economy and the world's desire. This overreach of rash costs the work of thousands of highly trained researchers and those who support their jobs with little chance of relocation or retraining. Patients will be enrolled in clinical trials without access to state-of-the-art treatments already supported by tax.
This myopia decision, ostensibly made to save costs, will put our country at risk.
What's more, the White House plans are grossly illegal. NIH has an existing contract 2,500 hospitals, medical institutions, universities In all 50 states. These are binding contracts that cannot be revoked without proof of violation and lack of legitimate proceedings.
The basic principle of contract law is that contracts cannot be retrospectively altered or withdrawn. In fact, when the first Trump administration tried to do the same in 2017, Congress specifically enacted it protection For NIH-funded agreements.
The partnership between the federal government and a distributed network of research universities originated in the Manhattan Project, where it had to rely on foreign-trained scientists. Insufficient scientific expertise was further concern in the 1960s after the launch of the first satellite, which signaled that the Soviet Union was lagging behind in space races.
The response was to develop the current system. This was to help universities develop independent research capabilities rather than exhausting all their projects from Washington.
The distributed network of research universities is an important factor in promoting scientific innovation and protecting national security. Our ability to train our own scientists not only makes us self-sufficient, but also provides a great resource for the Department of Defense, which directs 50% of basic research to the university.
By ensuring that we support a consistent state of scientific preparation, our research network can quickly pivot to deal with new threats, whether naturally occurring or biological attacks.
Federal court issued temporary restraints order Suspension of new rate reductions in submitted lawsuits 22 State Attorney General. It has just been submitted by the university and the National Academic Association. Another lawsuit.
While continuing lawsuits are likely to be successful, the damage caused by this whimsical and reckless action is immediate and devastating for medical centers across the country, budgeting due to certain indirect costs rates already negotiated. It has been officially established by the NIH (and obligated to);
NIH's funding model has made the US a world science Superpower And our university is the best destination Students from All countries. Throttling NIH funds won't save you money, but it will unravel the biomedical system that has fueled our economy and protected generations.
Congress should stop these dangerous reductions at the NIH in 2017 and listen again to the voices of scientists to protect today and future medical research.
Lawrence O. Gostin is a renowned law professor at the O'Neill National Institute of Health Law at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Centre for World Health Law. Jennifer S. Bird is a law professor at the University of Cincinnati.
