Cardiologists and researchers fear that President Donald Trump’s 20 percent cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget could limit the number of trials and life-saving medications, Reuters reports.
Trump has proposed a $5.8 billion cut to the NIH budget, which could lead to fewer NIH-sponsored trials and a disproportionate number of studies funded by drug companies.
Steven Nissen, MD, chief of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, cited the work of researchers that led to the development of statins, which have helped prevent MIs and saved millions of lives and dollars.
American College of Cardiology President Mary Norine Walsh, MD, told Reuters that physicians and healthcare professionals should oppose the proposed NIH cuts.
“All of medicine and all of investigation need to make our voices heard,” Walsh told Reuters. “This could become a unifying theme. Science matters!”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.