Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post; His custom cancer therapy is in an NIH freezer. He may not get it in time.
[Kip Currier: Yet another compelling example why effective, well-staffed, responsive government agencies are vital. And another example of how destructive the Trump 2.0 DOGE-facilitated cuts have been and are to the lives of many Americans.
When reading this article, imagine you are the person waiting for the experimental cancer treatment that may save your life. Tragically, you may not get that treatment in time, however, simply because Trump fired the workers who might have been able to deliver it to you.
Fortunately, this Washington Post article is educating us about Richard Schlueter's "time is of the essence" need for his tailored treatment. What about all the other people in similar situations as Schlueter, though, whose stories and urgent needs we don't know?
Our elected officials must do better jobs advocating for the needs of the American people and getting results.
And we the people must do better jobs at being informed citizens ourselves, supporting programs that work for the common good, and voting for candidates committed to the public interest and person-centered, well-functioning democracies that are empathetic and responsive to the practical and aspirational needs of individuals and communities.
Remember these Trump 2.0 DOGE cuts when it comes time to vote for your state and federal representatives.]
[Excerpt]
"In early June, a scan revealed that the cancer that started in his tonsils was racing through his bones. That day, he called a medical team at the National Institutes of Health that had created an experimental cell therapy, custom-made to attack his cancer as part of a clinical trial. He needed it. Now.
Instead, he received more bad news: His therapy would be delayed at least a month because of staff cuts at NIH.
A week later, Schlueter and his wife, Michelle, saw NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya push back on concerns raised by his own staff that the ouster of essential employees and other disruptions to the biomedical research agency were harming science and patients. Bhattacharya said on X that objections raised in a document called the Bethesda Declaration contained “fundamental misconceptions” about NIH’s new direction. Each termination was being reviewed, and some workers were reinstated, he added.
But the Schlueters had a front-row seat to the effects of the job losses. Richard’s therapy was in a freezer, nearly ready to go. All along, they had been told the final step of preparation takes three to four weeks. But on June 3, his NIH doctor informed him that it would now take eight to 10 weeks because of cuts to essential lab personnel — a painful illustration of the life-and-death stakes of the administration’s approach to shrinking the government workforce.
“I’m petrified. I have to do something,” Richard said. “My cancer is on the move.”
The Washington Post first reported in early April that the production of specialized immune-cell therapies for metastatic cancer patients was delayed. Two highly skilled technicians who prepared cells for treatments were fired in the probationary purge in February, according to Steven Rosenberg, an NIH immunotherapy pioneer who leads multiple trials. He declined to say how many patients were affected, but his team now treats one patient per week, down from two or three before the cuts."
