A former top National Institutes of Health scientist has sued the Trump administration, saying she was wrongfully fired for warning that research cuts were putting patients and public health at risk.
WASHINGTON — A former top National Institutes of Health scientist sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying she was wrongfully fired for warning that sharp decline in research endangered patients and public health.
NIH reduced billions dollars to research projects since President Donald Trump took office in January, bypassing the normal science funding process. The cuts included clinical trials for treatments for cancer, brain diseases and other health problems that A recent report states that more than 74,000 people took part in the experiments.
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo is a renowned HIV expert who chaired the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Marrazzo was placed on administrative leave last spring after she approached NIH officials about the cuts. Among her objections were that some cuts would put clinical trial participants at risk, while other cuts to infectious disease and vaccine research would harm public health, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
In September, Marrazzo filed a whistleblower retaliation complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and publicly shared her concerns. Weeks later, she was fired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland that alleges violations of whistleblower protections.
In a statement from her lawyers, Marrazzo said the lawsuit “is about protecting not only my right to expose our government's abuses and fraud, but also the rights of all federal employees so that we can protect important public health priorities and the integrity of scientific research.”
A spokesman for Kennedy's Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment.
——
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
