NEW YORK — More than 74,000 people who took part in the experiments were affected by the virus. National Institutes of Health funding cutsaccording to a new report.
From late February to mid August funding stopped for 383 studies that tested treatments for diseases such as cancer, heart disease and brain disease. The cuts have had a disproportionate impact efforts to combat infectious diseases like influenza, pneumonia and COVID-19, the researchers found.
funding cuts likely disrupted patients' lives in different ways.
Some may have signed up for studies that never started or were delayed as institutions scrambled for alternative funding. Others may have lost access to medications or been left with an unmonitored device implant.
Even more people could participate in the trial, but the results would never be published.
“The disruption to the research enterprise has been profound and significant,” said Heather Pierce, who has overseen cuts to NIH grants to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
More broadly, lost studies harm patients who might benefit from possible new treatments, researchers said in a report published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
“The whole purpose of these clinical trials is to gather evidence about what works and what doesn't work in medicine,” said study co-author Anupam B. Jena of Harvard Medical School.
The researchers counted 11,008 studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the study period. Of these, every 30 lost funding.
Such cuts to clinical research could also undermine trust between people and the medical institutions that support them, said Jeremy Berg, former director of the NIH institute. Patients may have thought twice about participating in future research projects, fearing that funding might suddenly be withdrawn.
“It's easy for anyone who has ever approached us about a clinical trial to think, 'Why should I get involved?' – said Berg.
Under the Trump administration, the NIH has cut billions of dollars in spending on research projects.
Supreme Court decision in August paved the way for the NIH to commit hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Problems with trying to reduce NCDs so-called indirect costs of medical research also go through court.
Hundreds of NIH scientists signed a letter in June condemning the new policies and the end of the grants, saying they “undermine the mission of the NIH, waste government resources, and harm the health of Americans and people around the world.”
Emily J. Hilliard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, declined to comment.
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