Research!America Statement on Devastating Staff Cuts at Health and Human Services Endangering Americans’ Health, Prosperity
Arlington, VA – Research!America, a nonprofit medical and health research alliance, expressed alarm about the impact on medical and public health progress of mass layoffs and individual firings of key personnel reported today at the NIH, FDA, CDC, and AHRQ. These federal agencies under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) help develop new treatments to serve patients safely and effectively, and guard against threats to the public’s health overall. A poll we commissioned earlier this year revealed nine out of 10 Americans say it is important the U.S. be a global leader in research to improve health. Today’s actions imperil that leadership and weaken our ability to innovate and grow our economy.
Efforts to reorganize and streamline the work of federal agencies should be implemented after careful study and with input from stakeholders, including patients. That is not the case with these layoffs, which appear hurried and slipshod, serving only to slow our progress toward new treatments for patients and weakening our global leadership in science.
Contact Glenn O’Neal, Senior Director of Communications, at 571-482-2737 or [email protected] with press inquiries.