The Budget Deal: An Okay End to a Very Bad Year for Medical Research

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/the-budget-deal-an-okay-end-to-a-very-bad-year-for-medical-research/282489/

Congress's spending bill offers some relief to the National Institutes of Health, but Francis Collins says lawmakers are still scrimping on essential science.

Two-thousand thirteen will go down as one of the least predictable—and most political—years in history for American medical research.

In the spring, sequestration—across-the-board budget cuts—wiped out more than 5 percent of fiscal-year 2013 budgets of government agencies that fund research and development, with the promise of more cuts over the next decade. The 16-day government shutdown in October wreaked further havoc, as scientists were told to put their work on hold while Congress got its act together. Now, nearing the end of a roller-coaster year, legislators are providing some relief (albeit with a side of whiplash) by swiftly passing a budget deal that heads off another shutdown and reverses many of the impending mandatory budget cuts.

At the National Institutes of Health, the largest provider of federal research money to universities and labs across the country, Director Francis Collins says it has been his most challenging year since taking the post in 2009, describing it as a “paradox.”

“In terms of scientific progress, 2013 has outstripped my expectations,” Collins said. “But in terms of a continued downward spiral of support it has been much worse than I thought it would be at the beginning of the year.”

Given that the NIH’s mission—fighting human disease and prolonging life—not only engenders widespread bipartisan support but also is widely viewed as a major economic engine and job creator, one might expect it to be shielded from appropriators’ red pen. Yet the government closure was the latest blow for NIH, which lost $1.71 billion during sequestration and has seen a 25 percent reduction in overall funding since 2003.