The shutdown could prevent kids with cancer from getting treatment
As long as the government is shut down, the National Institutes of Health will have to turn away about 200 patients each week from its clinical research center, including children with cancer.
At the National Institutes of Health, nearly three-quarters of the staff was furloughed. One result: director Francis Collins said about 200 patients who otherwise would be admitted to the NIH Clinical Center into clinical trials each week will be turned away. This includes about 30 children, most of them cancer patients, he said.
Here's some broader context: Individuals typically enroll in clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center "only when standard medical treatments have failed, and other treatment options are not available. As a result, they have no other alternatives."
The center won't close down entirely during the shutdown. It will still keep 2,564 staff on hand for patient care and maintain about 90 percent of its normal load, according to an agency memo. Current patients will still get care as always. But that does mean NIH "would not be accepting new patients or initiating new clinical protocols during a hiatus."
So, as a result of the shutdown, there will be a certain number of patients around the country who have exhausted all their options, were hoping to undergo treatment at the NIH, and will get turned away - at least until the shutdown is resolved.
(Hat tip: Jordan Weissmann)
Further reading:
-- The nine most painful consequences of a government shutdown.
-- Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work.
