NIH Funding — Trump Administration Proposes Big Cuts In Medical Research

[Jim51042]

So bad news everyone I just saw the story below detailing a big cut to the NIH budget. Unfortunately this will delay any US treatment research by years. Awesome...

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-...tration-proposes-big-cuts-in-medical-research

P.S. Don't hate on me; I live in Maryland and although I voted I had no impact on any national election races.

 

[Samir]

This is too negative and depressing! That doesn't count as news around here!

I hate to say but... I told you so! I can't say I did not see this coming, but I was still being hopeful till the end that it would not happen. It is what it is, all we can do now is see the events unfold and see how it affects the hearing restoration efforts.

Don't hate on me; I live in Maryland and although I voted I had no impact on any national election races.

I don't hate you! Even if you voted for Trump! I don't have to agree with you, but I can defend your right to vote. How can you not have an impact by casting a vote? Are you referring to the Electoral Collage system?

 

[Jim51042]

Yep the good old Electoral College system (sarcasm). I think it is undemocratic and suppresses voter participation but oh well that's life. Haha regarding my vote you might be interpreting the choice incorrectly.

The one additional note though is that the budget proposes that the VA receive a 6% increase in funding. With so many tinnitus disabled US Veterans it could be possible that they would step up to sponsor some research funding.

http://www.npr.org/2017/03/16/52030...rd-power-budget-that-boosts-military-spending

 

[Samir]

Investment in "mental health activities that are awarded to high-performing entities and focus on high priority areas, such as suicide prevention, serious mental illness, and children's mental health." No specifics are provided.

Yep the good old Electoral College system (sarcasm). I think it is undemocratic and suppresses voter participation but oh well that's life.

Good old USA!

I did try to get my head around that system, but I still don't quite get it. But it may not be as archaic after all. Netherlands for example went back to using good old manual counting of their general election votes just the other day, using pen and paper, in fear of hacking attacks on their computer based counting system (source). I think we might all want to take a step back, because the high tech "evolution" and "revolution" is happening so fast we have a hard time to digest it.

The one additional note though is that the budget proposes that the VA receive a 6% increase in funding. With so many tinnitus disabled US Veterans it could be possible that they would step up to sponsor some research funding.

Wishful thinking? That increase is likely intended to cover for the increased spending on veterans with tinnitus. It's about funding tinnitus management rather than funding an original research project to cure tinnitus.

 

[Paul10]

The plus side is that, whilst usually the USA is at the forefront of medical research, it's Big Pharma and corporate money that is pushing that research ahead. Unusually, it's over here in Europe (especially England) and New Zealand which seem to be leading the way in hearing and T research (along with several universities in the States, which will hopefully still get funding).

 

[Samir]

The proposal promises:
Investment in "mental health activities that are awarded to high-performing entities and focus on high priority areas, such as suicide prevention, serious mental illness, and children's mental health." No specifics are provided.

So the entities that under-perform, and don't deliver on their promise should be cut off? I don't agree with this. I hope this means that at least Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Schizophrenia will be covered.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health flows to more than 2,600 institutions around the country and creates more than 313,000 full- and part-time jobs, according to a 2016 study. So it's not obvious how slashing billions from the NIH budget, as the Trump administration proposes, will bring more jobs to America.

This might still bring more jobs, just not the kind of jobs that scientists are hoping for. Namely, it may bring more blue collar, and low income jobs.

In 2012, these nine institutions received about $7 billion for research, more than half of which came from the NIH, the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies. Of that, the universities spent almost $1 billion on goods and services from U.S. vendors and subcontractors, the study found.

Of that, 16 percent went to vendors in the university's home county, over 16 percent was spent elsewhere in the state, and the balance was spread to companies across the United States.

University researchers buy chemicals and other ingredients needed for experiments and purchase laboratory equipment. There are entire industries devoted to supporting biomedical research.

"We were surprised by how many were small, niche high-technology companies," Weinberg and his colleagues wrote.

I don't think Trump administration cares enough for small businesses. Small businesses and innovative startup companies are important to the long term economic growth in any country. They seem to be more concerned with big businesses and industries, and in short term results.

"Of course, science funding is not primarily a jobs or economic stimulus program," they added. After all, research is a long-term investment in knowledge and the driving force for economic growth.

Exactly what you need! Scientific research, discoveries and innovation is what made America great!

The budget also calls for the creation of a new "Federal Emergency Response Fund" that would be designed to "rapidly respond to public health outbreaks," such as Zika.

Not sure what they expect to do about outbreaks such as Zika... if they don't don't allow science to prosper and they close the tap on research funding.

 

[Cameron C]

Trump can eat a dick. This is bullshit..

 

[RB2014]

Anyone seen the deficits we run in the US. Anyone check the last 8 years to see how much debt the US has. We can't keep going like that. I'm sad too, but cuts have to be made somewhere.

Hearing loss cures are now in the hands of private companies. This won't affect that at all.

As far as Tinnitus. We are a ways away from anything that will help us. I'm not really sure how much of that would have gone toward T anyway, but its probably very minimal if any.

You would think with a 30 billion dollar budget we would be finding cures a lot quicker....

Right now our biggest hope for T is that a hearing loss cure comes out that helps to lower or stop T. As for T due to other factors, its going to be a while anyway.

 

[jdjd09]

Anyone seen the deficits we run in the US. Anyone check the last 8 years to see how much debt the US has. We can't keep going like that. I'm sad too, but cuts have to be made somewhere.

Hearing loss cures are now in the hands of private companies. This won't affect that at all.

As far as Tinnitus. We are a ways away from anything that will help us. I'm not really sure how much of that would have gone toward T anyway, but its probably very minimal if any.

You would think with a 30 billion dollar budget we would be finding cures a lot quicker....

Right now our biggest hope for T is that a hearing loss cure comes out that helps to lower or stop T. As for T due to other factors, its going to be a while anyway.

Oh yeah, the "big deficit" that means absolutely NOTHING to anyone who ever brings it up. You realize that normal countries have debt on their books, right?

You also realize that NONE of this has ANYTHING to do with driving down the deficit and EVERYTHING to do with cutting taxes for the wealthy? The budget that is being proposed RAISES DEBT higher than ever. Also, NO, the past 8 years the deficit wasn't rising under Obama. In fact, IT WAS GOING DOWN.

LINK: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...e-cut-our-deficits-three-fourths-obama-state/

No wonder the GOP wins in the USA again and again. Facts do not matter in the USA, only "feelings" about what is right.

 

[Samir]

Anyone seen the deficits we run in the US.

And who do you think is responsible for that?

I'm sad too, but cuts have to be made somewhere.

But cuts on research funding and healthcare services is somehow least hurtful?

Hearing loss cures are now in the hands of private companies.

Except that these companies are founded on the basis of scientific research and discoveries done at the research labs funded by the federal government? The rabbit is still not out of its hole! It will be when we have the first readily available treatment. Until then, there is still a lot of things to learn about hearing and tinnitus. Besides, many of the companies are now publicly traded, they are no longer private. A few examples include Auris, Otonomy and Genvec.

As far as Tinnitus. We are a ways away from anything that will help us. I'm not really sure how much of that would have gone toward T anyway, but its probably very minimal if any.

Right now our biggest hope for T is that a hearing loss cure comes out that helps to lower or stop T. As for T due to other factors, its going to be a while anyway.

Exactly! Let's just start by restoring sensory cells and synapses. We can then take it from there.

Like I said, there are still a lot of things to learn about hearing and tinnitus. Only way to do that is by research. And for that we need funding. Investors are not so keen on funding basic scientific research without any outlook of translation into a real world application in the foreseeable future. It's understandable. They want return on their investment.

 

[Alue]

I've played the devil's advocate for Trump before, he has said a number of stupid things, but this is by far the worst proposal. We should be making cuts to the defence budget and spend more on medical research. I hope it doesn't go through.

Yep the good old Electoral College system (sarcasm). I think it is undemocratic and suppresses voter participation but oh well that's life.

Without the electoral college a few large states would dominate the entire federation. It's a compromise, but without it lesser populated states could be ignored and walked all over by the federal government. You cannot just pick and choose when it suits you and when it doesn't.

 

[RB2014]

Oh yeah, the "big deficit" that means absolutely NOTHING to anyone who ever brings it up. You realize that normal countries have debt on their books, right?

You also realize that NONE of this has ANYTHING to do with driving down the deficit and EVERYTHING to do with cutting taxes for the wealthy? The budget that is being proposed RAISES DEBT higher than ever. Also, NO, the past 8 years the deficit wasn't rising under Obama. In fact, IT WAS GOING DOWN.

LINK: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...e-cut-our-deficits-three-fourths-obama-state/

No wonder the GOP wins in the USA again and again. Facts do not matter in the USA, only "feelings" about what is right.

Based on quarterly data released by the US Treasury, the debt at the end of 2008 — just before Obama took office — stood at roughly $10,699,805,000,000.

As of the third quarter of 2016, the most recent data available, the debt as Obama is set to leave office stood at $19,573,445,000,000.

Our national debt doubled in 8 years......

I'm with you guys, but the bleeding has to stop somewhere. We can't keep going like this.

 

[Skulldrey]

I think Trump is as much of a loser as anyone, but let me play devil's advocate here.

Trump wants to increase military spending, which means more money for the Dept. of Defense. The VA is expected to receive a lot of this increased military spending - one of the only good things Trump is planning. With tinnitus being the #1 service-related disability, it stands to reason that the DoD would continue funding research at places like UPitt to help veterans restore their hearing loss.

 

[Samir]

The last thing you need is more veterans with hearing loss and tinnitus.

Cut the spending on military! You have a good solid wall now, no one can do you harm.

 

[DirM]

This post is just trolling. Just because there is less funding overall doesn't mean any specific disease gets less money. That is not how government or business works. A overall budget could get cut, and specific funding in an area could actually go up.

The better tactic would be to lobby against other diseases, such as AIDS, cancer and others that have billions of corporate investment.

In other words, lobby for the budget that is there, arguing that problems that have less corporate research dollars (like T) should get more government dollars than conditions where big business is investing, or ones that have much larger charities driving research (like AIDS and cancer).

Or better yet, have the EU focus their dollars on one thing (T where they already seem to be ahead), the US on another (AIDS). How much duplication is out there with government spending in diseases worldwide? How about having the number 2 economy China pull their weight?

But instead of solving a budgeting problem creatively, you rather troll for political points.