New study warns that the sharp cuts to the NIH and Kennedy's desire to dismantle the body of recommendations for preventive medicine could lead to an increase in morbidity, distrust in the medical establishment, and dependence on expensive and inaccessible medicine
As the second Trump administration advances a 40% cut in the budget of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. considers eliminating the country's main body of recommendations for preventive medicine, experts warn of a dangerous scenario: widespread damage to science, medical research, and the United States' public health system.
A report recently published in the journal JAMA Health Forum Describes a systemic model that demonstrates how cuts to NIH funding could trigger a chain of vicious cycles: slowing scientific progress, attrition of research personnel, rising drug development costs, and loss of investment in critical areas of preventive medicine.
Science funding is collapsing – and with it the foundations of medical innovation.
According to the study, NIH currently funds over 50 research grants, provides infrastructure for medical institutions and laboratories, and supports the training of researchers—all of which are in tangible jeopardy. When investment in basic research declines, the direct consequence is a slowdown in future discoveries. The study notes that nearly all drugs approved in the past decade relied directly or indirectly on NIH-funded research.
In addition, grant cuts are harming the training of the next generation of scientists. Data shows that cutting off project funding has in the past caused a 40% increase in researcher unemployment and a 90% drop in the rate of scientific publication in closed laboratories. The implication: a lasting damage to the US's innovation potential.
A costly transition to private market medicine
As public investment erodes, resources may shift to medical development in the private sector alone. This shift means rising prices, a focus on profitable treatments rather than treatments with broad health value, and less focus on prevention or early diagnosis. Thus, medicine becomes less accessible and less equitable.
And what about preventive medicine?
The study also warns of a serious impact on research and initiatives related to preventive medicine: from efforts to diagnose cancer early, to combat epidemics, to develop healthy lifestyle protocols. Stopping funding for such research could lead to increased morbidity and mortality – and much higher health costs in the long run.
Kennedy Jr. threatens to dismantle the recommendation mechanism
Against this backdrop, reports that Secretary of Health and Human Services Kennedy Jr. is considering disbanding the US Preventive Services Task Force are even more troubling. The task force, established more than 40 years ago, is an independent body of doctors and scientists that formulates evidence-based recommendations for screening tests and preventive health practices at every stage of a person’s life.
This body’s recommendations guide the entire American health system—from decisions made by community physicians to health insurance policies. For example, its decision in 2024 to raise the age of mammograms for women from 50 to 40 was based on solid scientific research and has saved the lives of thousands of women every year.
An ideological appointment instead of a scientific one?
According to reports from the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, Kennedy plans to fire all staff members and replace them with political appointees. Senior doctors, such as American Medical Association President Dr. Bobby Mukamala, warn of the dangerous politicization of a body that is supposed to operate independently and based on science.
The fear is that recommendations in the field of preventive medicine will be replaced by unfounded claims – for example, promoting unproven nutritional supplements instead of effective screening tests. Or worse: that insurance companies will take advantage of the lack of recommendations to stop covering essential services for the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and dementia.
Loss of trust – loss of ability to prevent
If the central body of recommendations for preventive medicine loses its status and credibility, the public will be left without a clear source of authority. Doctors will not know which recommendations to follow, and patients will not know whether to believe the information they receive through social media, politicians, or health influencers.
The country will deteriorate to a situation where everyone chooses their own "medical truth" – a situation that leads to confusion, errors in treatment, and the abandonment of proven preventive medical measures.
Conclusion: Not a budget struggle – but a struggle for public health
The combination of cutting the science budget and dismantling the preventive medicine mechanism is not just a reform. It constitutes a profound change in the model of the American healthcare system: from a system based on evidence and accessibility – to a system based on the free market, profit, and disinformation.
The study published inJAMA It is a wake-up call: irresponsible policies toward science and preventive medicine will ultimately cost a lot – in money, in morbidity, and in human lives.
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One response
"Distrust in the medical establishment" already exists! Doctors are mostly worthless officials of the establishment!