Trump budget proposes deep cuts for HHS

The Trump administration released its detailed budget for HHS, proposing massive budget cuts to several key institutions with a stake in imaging, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The NCI would see a budged decrease of $1 billion, or 11 percent. The NCI has regularly funded or published studies showing the efficacy of cancer screening, including a large-scale report detailing the precipitous decline in breast cancer deaths since the implementation of mammography.

Advocacy groups spoke out against President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, including Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (the lobbying arm for the American Cancer Society).

“These budget cuts seriously jeopardize the development of new, potentially life-saving cancer diagnostic tools, prevention methods and treatments,” he said in a statement.

The FDA would see a 31 percent cut, down to $1.89 billion from $2.7 billion. The administration contends the decrease would be offset by doubling industry-paid user fees to $1.5 billion. Currently, user fees cover about 70 percent of the cost of drug applications and about 30 percent of the cost of device reviews.

FDA officials told the Wall Street Journal the plan is unrealistic because the fees have already been negotiated with companies—and the two-year negotiation period isn’t easily reopened.

However, the budget is likely to change drastically once it reaches Congress.

“The president is right to take a close look at spending," Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told NPR. "Congress has the power of the purse strings. I've never seen a president's budget proposal not revised substantially."