Scientists challenge US NIH grant screening as unconstitutional
The class-action suit says NIH used 235 keywords to block or renegotiate grants after peer review, affecting more than 5,700 awards, according to reports.
- On Wednesday, 17 researchers filed a class-action lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health, alleging the agency unconstitutionally censors grants by screening for keywords the Trump administration disfavors.
- The agency employs a list of 235 prohibited keywords, including 'gender' and 'climate change,' to flag research applications conflicting with administration priorities, the complaint states.
- Stanford University surgeon Arghavan Salles said, 'Scientists should not have to scrub their research to receive federal funding.' Researchers refusing to modify grant language risk losing funding.
- NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya has denied using banned word lists, yet court filings show the agency used keywords to identify and terminate grants the Department of Health and Human Services no longer wished to subsidize.
- If the court rules for the plaintiffs, the decision applies to any researcher affected by keyword searches, potentially impacting thousands beyond the 17 named scientists in the class-action suit.
8 Articles
8 Articles
Scientists Sue NIH Over Alleged Unconstitutional Grant Screening
A group of scientists have launched a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. National Institutes of Health, claiming the agency unconstitutionally screens research grants based on disfavored viewpoints on diversity, gender identity, and climate change. The lawsuit alleges First Amendment violations and seeks the restoration of terminated grants.
Scientists challenge US NIH grant screening as unconstitutional
A group of scientists filed a class-action lawsuit on Wednesday against the U.S. National Institutes of Health, alleging the agency is unconstitutionally screening research grants to suppress viewpoints the Trump administration disfavors on topics like diversity, gender identity and climate change.
ACLU Sues RFK Jr., NIH Over Alleged Censorship of Medical Research Grants
Seventeen biomedical researchers represented by the American Civil Liberties Union sued Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and other federal defendants Wednesday, alleging the government is censoring federally funded science by targeting research involving subjects and viewpoints the Trump administration disfavors.The proposed class action, filed in...
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