An ominous gray cloud drifted over science on Thursday, with the release of the Trump administration’s blueprint for Federal spending in 2018.
The draft budget outlines unexpectedly brutal cuts to medical research and healthcare.
At the highest level, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be allocated just $69 billion in 2018, a 17.9 percent decrease from 2017. That means cuts across the board, including a $5.8 billion chunk carved off the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
To speed up the drug and device approval process, Trump also plans to double the fees paid by companies submitting products for FDA review, from $1 billion to $2 billion per year.
Depressing news.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are some small silver linings in the budget that could benefit science and society.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
For starters, the blueprint “provides a $4.6 billion increase in discretionary funding for VA health care to improve patient access and timeliness of medical care services.”
It “promotes healthy and lead-safe homes by providing $130 million, an increase of $20 million… for the mitigation of lead-based paint and other hazards in low-income homes, especially those in which children reside.”
An unspecified investment will be made 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.”
And a new Federal Emergency Response Fund (which also draws on unspecified funds), will be built to rapidly respond to public health outbreaks, such as Zika.
One of the most substantial investments in healthcare will be made to counter opioid abuse.
The blueprint calls for a $500 million increase in spending “to expand opioid misuse prevention efforts and to increase access to treatment and recovery services to help Americans who are misusing opioids get the help they need.”
Two CEO’s working to develop therapies in this space were heartened by the news.
“We are pleased to see the current administration supporting efforts to combat the opioid addiction epidemic, including increasing access to medication-assisted treatment,” said Mark Sirgo, CEO of BioDelivery Sciences, via email.
Roger Crystal of Opiant Pharmaceuticals questioned whether the funding goes far enough.
“I am encouraged by the current administration’s commitment to combat opioid addiction. It is a public healthcare crisis, and alongside the recent Surgeon General’s report into addiction, the government is demonstrating the scale of the problem. My only concern is whether $500 million is sufficient.”
Combined, these high points aren’t nearly enough to offset the broad funding massacre outlined for this industry.
There is, however, some comfort in knowing that it’s just a draft. A final budget proposal will be submitted in May, at which point Congress will hopefully step in to prevent Trump from “getting away with murder.”
In the meantime, researchers and providers alike can roll up their lab coat sleeves and show the world the value of knowledge and understanding about the human system.
Photo: RapidEye, Getty Images
