Shutdown Blocks Care For Kids With Cancer
Washington (AFP) – The government shutdown could block hundreds of cancer patients, including children, from entering last-ditch clinical trials for treatment, a spokesman for the National Institutes of Health told AFP Wednesday.
About three quarters of the staff at the NIH, which operates the largest research hospital in the world, has been placed on unpaid leave indefinitely.
While the NIH Clinical Center is continuing to treat patients, it is operating at “roughly 90 percent of normal patient load,” said an agency memo.
“NIH would not admit new patients (unless deemed medically necessary by the NIH Director), or initiate new protocols,” during a funding hiatus, the memo said.
That means about 200 patients will be turned away from treatment at the Clinical Center each week the shutdown persists, including about 30 children, a spokesman told AFP.
About 10 of those children have cancer, he added.
There are some 1,400 clinical trials ongoing at the NIH center, and four new ones ready to start next week will have to be postponed until the government resumes work, he said.
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