Egregious Abandonment Of Ongoing Clinical Trials Underscores Why USAID Shutdown Must Be Reversed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the Trump Administration’s shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), clinical trials funded by the agency have been abruptly halted, jeopardizing the participants in the trials and the integrity of the research.
More than 30 studies that had already enrolled volunteers have been frozen, including trials of treatments for malaria, cholera, tuberculosis, and H.I.V infection, the New York Times reported. Some of the trials have thousands of participants.
Public Citizen Health Research Group Director Dr. Robert Steinbrook issued the following statement:
“Abandoning ongoing clinical trials for reasons that are not scientifically sound is an egregious violation of clinical research ethics and defies common sense.
“The United States is a signatory to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, which sets forth the ethical principles underlying medical research, such as protecting the health and rights of all participants, caring for them throughout the trial, and publicly reporting the results so the information can advance medical knowledge.
“When a clinical trial is abandoned, the participants are put at risk without justification and trust in all clinical research is shattered. The abandonment of these trials underscores why the USAID shutdown must be reversed.”