U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley issued an order late Feb. 10 to prevent the National Institutes of Health from capping funds research institutions receive for indirect costs at 15% across the country — an expansion of a similar order earlier the same day that blocked the policy from taking effect in 22 states that had filed a lawsuit over the cuts.
The nationwide block was in response to a separate lawsuit filed against the NIH Feb. 10 by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and several other plaintiffs, arguing the Trump administration’s plan to cap research payments would result in “irreparable harm.”
Mr. Kelley set a hearing date for Feb. 21.
Three more notes:
1. On Feb. 7, the NIH — the main funding source for medical research in the U.S. — published a memo sharing plans to cap reimbursement for indirect costs to research institutions at 15%, down from the average of around 27% to 28% institutions had been receiving in recent years. Indirect costs include overhead and administrative costs, such as lab space, equipment, maintenance and staff salaries. The Trump administration anticipated the cuts would save more than $4 billion in federal costs annually.
A similar proposal to cut indirect funding was blocked by Congress during President Trump’s first term, which added provisions to budget bills in order to ensure the funding remained at levels previously agreed on by federal officials and researchers.
2. Physicians and researchers have denounced the funding cuts, saying they will hinder medical progress and ultimately harm patient care, should they prevail in legal challenges.
Dr. Theodore Iwashyna, MD, a pulmonologist and critical care physician at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine told NBC News that while indirect funds don’t go directly to patient care, they are necessary to maintain the framework for scientific discovery. “Everybody who comes to a place like Johns Hopkins, who comes to a place like Ohio State University to get a second opinion, the ability to do that depends on the research they’re doing.”
3. Former directors of the National Cancer Institute and NIH, Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, and Monica Bertagnolli, MD, who both served in the Biden administration, shared concerns that the cuts could limit access to clinical trials. “Some of those trials aren’t going to open,” if the cuts take effect, Dr. Ramthell told NPR. “There are some patients who are going to get that news.”
