'We deserve answers': Sen. Murray presses NIH chief over terminated cancer trials at fiery hearing

At a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing with U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)—a former chair and senior member of the HELP Committee—spoke forcefully on how the Trump administration’s cuts at the NIH have cost countless families their hope for life-changing treatments and cures and severely set back American competitiveness in biomedical research. Senator Murray also held Dr. Bhattacharya accountable for his decision to disband the NIH’s Advisory Committee to the Director—an unprecedented change to the longstanding expert network—and other NIH advisory councils and review panels, and the decision to ban fetal tissue research to appease anti-abortion extremists.