Attorney General Aaron M. Frey and a coalition of 21 other attorneys general have secured a nationwide preliminary injunction in the case of Massachusetts vs. NIH it was announced by his office this morning. The order prevents the Trump administration, Department of Health & Human Services and the NIH from cutting biiions of dollars in funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country regardless of whether their states have joined the lawsuit.
“This is a major win for research institutions and the people that rely on their critical work here in Maine and across the country,” said Attorney General Frey. ‘My colleagues and I will do everything in our power to continue to fight this irresponsible attack on vital public health research.”
The preliminary injunction protects critical funds that facilitate biomedicala research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure and utiity costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical research in which the US has long been a leader, could be compromised the press release stated.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the US. Medical research funding by NIH grants have led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types and the first sequencing of DNA. Additionaly, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work according to the press release.
“I’m relieved for so many reasons. Now we won’t have to rely on the spineless Senator Susan Colllins (R) to reinvent the wheel in her struggle against those cutbacks just reversed by a coallition of attorneys general across the nation. Collins was planning to call Secretary RFK, Jr. to urge him to reconsider the cutbacks to NIH as reported in the February 28th issue of the seriously downsizing “Portland Press Herad.” Talk is cheap, Senator. How you vote is more important,” says this blogger. “Senator Collins (R) voted in favor of the nomination of RFK, Jr. to be Secretary of Health. Kennedy is famously King of the anti-vaxxers.”
“How are those talks going Senator?” asks this blogger.
If you want to find out yourself how she is doing on her commitement to medical and public health research, please call her Washington, DC office at: 202 – 224-2523 or call her Portland office at 207 – 618 – 5560.