American College of Radiology joins legal fight against NIH cuts
The American College of Radiology is speaking out with other specialties in a legal fight against cuts to critical imaging research grants.
ACR joined 10 other medical societies in filing a “friend of the court” brief in an ongoing lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health, HHS and their two leaders. The college is lending its weight to concerns about the Trump administration imposing a 15% cap on institutions’ ability to recover indirect costs related to research.
Experts note this represents a substantial reduction—costing universities, nonprofits and others billions, with overhead often ranging from 50% to 60% of direct research expenses. Commonly covered indirect costs can include security, hazardous waste disposal, data processing and other necessities.
“A disruption in NIH funding of medical research and clinical trials will profoundly set back the advancement of medical care,” ACR and societies representing OB-GYNs, emergency docs, urologists and geriatricians wrote in their amicus brief, filed June 16. “Not only will a disruption in NIH funding destroy critical ongoing clinical trials and medical studies, it will impair the development of clinical practice protocols and guidelines and therefore will harm patients.”
The college and others are offering their perspective in a suit filed by over 20 state attorneys general, seeking to stop cuts to the National Institutes of Health. A judge blocked the funding reductions earlier this year, with the case now winding through the appeals process, according to reports.
Earlier this year, the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging also spoke out on the matter, urging physicians to contact Congress and ask their representatives to support the NIH. Failing to fund research overhead, SNMMI charged, could hinder innovation in the imaging industry.
“This funding is vital for sustaining the infrastructure that enables groundbreaking medical discoveries; yet, the new policy undermines the ability of research institutions to carry out their work effectively,” SNMMI said in March.
Others joining the amicus brief included the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association, American College of Chest Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, American Society for Clinical Pathology, American Urological Association, Council of Medical Specialty Societies, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and the American College of Emergency Physicians. ACEP shared word of the court filing in a Friday news update.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.