NIH cuts put 74,000 trial patients in limbo

A new report finds the abrupt end to 383 medical studies upended care and research nationwide.

-  ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN

More than 74,000 people enrolled in experiments have been affected by the National Institutes of Health's funding cuts, according to a new report.

Between the end of February and mid-August, funding ceased for 383 studies that were testing treatments for conditions including cancer, heart disease and brain disease.

The cuts disproportionately affected efforts to tackle infectious diseases like the flu, pneumonia and COVID-19, researchers found.

The funding cuts probably disrupted patients' lives in different ways.

Some may have signed up for trials that never began or were delayed as institutions scrambled for alternate funding. Others could have lost access to medication or been left with an unmonitored device implant.