Attorney General Seeks to Block Trump Administration Cut That Would Eliminate $35 Million in Medical Research at UConn

If we haven’t established a new Olympic and World record for most lawsuits by a Connecticut Attorney General against the administration of the President of the United States, we must be close to it.

The latest, announced this week, responds to what has been described as “defunding lifesaving medical research.” Attorney General William Tong and 21 other attorneys general sued the Trump Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for unlawfully cutting funds that support cutting-edge, lifesaving medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country.

 The administration’s just-announced plan would eliminate $35 million in funding for ongoing, promising research at the University of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut Health Center, according to the Attorney General’s Office. This includes research into treatments for the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression.

Funding further supports UConn research into autism, early diagnosis technology for preventable causes of newborn death, heart disease, cancer and chronic kidney disease, treatment for chronic lower-back pain, and emerging tick-borne diseases, among many others detailed in this declaration. The University of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut Health Center collectively received $620,648,927 in NIH funding this year, the AG;s office pointed out.

The coalition is challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country. These reimbursements cover expenses to facilitate biomedical research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical research in which the United States has long been a leader, could be compromised.

Indirect cost reimbursements are based on each institution’s unique needs, negotiated with the federal government through a carefully regulated process, and then memorialized in an executed agreement. The Trump Administration’s purports to toss those agreements aside, putting public health and medical advancements at risk. The coalition’s lawsuit seeks to prevent that reckless and illegal conduct.    

 The lawsuit was filed today in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts and can be found here.

 “Donald Trump is defunding cancer research. He is defunding treatment for heart disease. He wants to defund research into autism, Alzheimer’s, and preventable newborn deaths. He wants to make us all sicker, and we cannot let him,” said Attorney General Tong. “In his sloppy rush to slash funding, Trump has ignored federal law, and we are seeking a court order immediately blocking this illegal overreach.”

On Friday, February 7, the NIH announced it would abruptly slash indirect cost rates to an across-the-board 15% rate, which is significantly less than the cost required to perform cutting edge medical research. The NIH purported to make this cut effective the very next business day, Monday, February 10 giving universities and institutions no time to plan for the enormous budget gaps they are now facing. Without immediate relief, this action could result in the suspension of lifesaving and life-extending clinical trials, disruption of research programs, layoffs, and laboratory closures.

The coalition argues that this action violates the Administrative Procedure Act, including a directive Congress passed during President Trump’s first term to fend off his earlier proposal to drastically cut research reimbursements. That statutory language, still in effect, that prohibits the NIH from requiring categorial and indiscriminate changes to indirect cost reimbursements. The coalition is seeking a court order barring the Trump Administration and NIH from implementing the action.

The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United States. Medical research funding by NIH grants have led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types, the first sequencing of DNA and the development of the MRI. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work.

This lawsuit is being co-led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan. Joining this coalition are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.