Following a lawsuit led by the AAMC, proposed drastic cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding have been temporarily frozen across the nation pending the outcome of further judicial review.
The NIH on Feb. 7 issued supplemental guidance to the NIH Grants Policy Statement, noting that facilities and administrative costs (F&A costs, also known as “indirect costs”) would be set at a standard rate of 15% for all NIH grantee institutions and replace any individually negotiated rates for an institution. AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Scientific Officer Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, issued a statement regarding the notice, stating that the severe cuts in F&A costs will “diminish the nation’s research capacity, slowing scientific progress and depriving patients, families, and communities across the country of new treatments, diagnostics, and preventative interventions.”
Subsequently, the AAMC on Feb. 10 led a group of organizations in filing a lawsuit challenging the legality of the administration’s stated plan to make major cuts to federally funded research. The AAMC, with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, and the Greater New York Hospital Association, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts arguing that the Feb. 7 NIH notice is unlawful and would result in irreparable harm. The AAMC and its co-plaintiffs joined in an earlier motion (PDF) filed by the State Attorneys General seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the Feb. 7 notice from taking effect.
Late on Feb. 10, a federal judge in the District Court granted the AAMC’s motion for a nationwide temporary restraining order, preventing the Feb. 7 notice from going into effect. In a statement, the AAMC noted it is “pleased that the court agreed with our assertion that the notice would have resulted in irreparable harm to the research mission, leaving institutions no choice but to scale back research activities.” The District Court will hear arguments on a motion for preliminary injunction on Feb. 21.
Materials on the importance of F&A costs are available on the AAMC Facilities and Administrative Costs resource page.