Trump’s diversity purge freezes hundreds of millions in medical research at universities across the country

CNN reports how cuts in university research projects harm important efforts to improve health and save lives in red and blue states. NCHR says researchers are scared about the future of their work and explains how important it is to study differences in how patients develop diseases and which treatments are most effective. We suggest that studies using terms like diversity could be funded if described accurately but with different wording.

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Susan Franklin Wood Obituary

The Lancet, April 19, 2025: We share this obituary in The Lancet medical journal of our friend and former board member, Susan Wood. Susan was loved and admired by many. Her impressive work to improve women’s health and the safety of medical products reflected her personal experience and leaves a legacy of inspiring public health advocacy.

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In Vague Announcement, FDA Says It Will Cut Ad Comm Conflicts

IHP News, April 17, 2025: Inside Health Policy reports FDA‘s new conflict of interest policy looks like its old conflict of interest policy. NCHR’s Diana Zuckerman and Public Citizen’s Michael Abrams ask how is this new policy different from the existing policy? Industry representatives are already not allowed to vote on FDA advisory committees.

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RFK Jr. brings FDA under tighter control with HHS workforce cuts

STAT News, March 27, 2025: We explain why RFK Jr’s plan to cut 3,500 FDA staff will be “extremely disruptive and not productive” for at least a few years. Reviewers and inspectors’ productivity will be hurt even if they are not cut and as a result patients and industry will be harmed because new drugs and devices will not be reviewed as quickly or as carefully. RFK’s plans to improve infant formula and food safety more generally will require more staff, not fewer. Why were these cuts decided before the new FDA Commissioner was in place at the FDA and had the opportunity to decide what would be best for the agency and the public?

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