FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 410-576-7009
BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and a coalition of
21 other attorneys general have secured a nationwide preliminary injunction in Massachusetts v.
NIH. The order prevents the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from cutting billions of dollars in
funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research
institutions across the country regardless of whether their states have joined the lawsuit.
“This ruling will save thousands of Marylanders’ lives and jobs. Seriously ill patients depend on
federally funded clinical trials as a last hope for survival, and our State’s pioneering research
institutions need these resources to discover treatments for deadly diseases like cancer, heart
disease, and ALS,” said Attorney General Brown. “This case is not over, but I am glad this
money will keep flowing as we continue fighting to protect this critical funding.”
The preliminary injunction protects critical funds that facilitate biomedical research, like lab,
faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical
research in which the United States has long been a leader, could be compromised.
On February 10, less than six hours after the coalition filed their lawsuit against the
Administration, a judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued a temporary
restraining order against NIH, barring its attempts to cut the critical research funding. Today’s
order takes the place of the temporary restraining order and prevents the Trump Administration
from cutting this important category of funding as the case proceeds.
The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United
States. Medical research funding by NIH grants have led to innumerable scientific
breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types and the first
sequencing of DNA. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes
for their groundbreaking scientific work.
Joining Attorney General Brown in this coalition are the attorneys general of Arizona,
California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
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