Trump cuts Medical research as health budget reduced by 23 percent

The administration doesn’t provide details on where exactly the cuts would come from, citing 'consolidations and structural changes' as well as cutting administrative costs and a 'rebalance' of government funding for research. (Photo: iStock)

President Donald Trump is proposing big cuts to biomedical research as part of a budget to reduce discretionary spending at the Department of Health and Human Services by 23 percent — a move likely to provoke outcry from lawmakers, research groups, drugmakers and patients.

The proposal would cut the budget of the National Institutes of Health — which conduct and fund medical research — by $5.8 billion, or about 18 percent from 2017 levels. The Office of Management and Budget called the change “a major reorganization of NIH’s institutes and centers to help focus resources on the highest priority research and training activities.”