FILE - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)
President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former leading scientist at the ɫtv Institutes of Health sued the Trump administration Tuesday, saying she was illegally fired for warning that abrupt research cuts were endangering patients and public health.
The NIH has cut of dollars in since President Donald Trump took office in January, bypassing the usual scientific funding process. The cuts included clinical trials testing treatments for cancer, brain diseases and other health problems that a
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo is a well-known HIV expert who led NIH’s ɫtv Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Last spring, Marrazzo was put on administrative leave after she challenged NIH officials about the cuts. Among her objections were that some cuts would endanger clinical trial participants while others curtailing infectious disease and vaccine research would harm public health, according to Tuesday’s lawsuit.
In September, Marrazzo filed a complaint alleging whistleblower retaliation with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, and publicly shared her concerns. Weeks later she was fired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland that claims violations of whistleblower protections.
In a statement issued by her lawyers, Marrazzo said the lawsuit "is about protecting not just my right to expose abuse and fraud by our government but those rights for all federal employees, so we can safeguard essential public health priorities and the integrity of scientific research.”
A spokesman for Kennedy's Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The ɫtv Press. All rights reserved.
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