STAT+: A closely watched legal battle over NIH funding cuts could settle soon

BOSTON — A widely watched case against the National Institutes of Health over the termination of hundreds of grants was poised to enter a new phase of arguments Tuesday, centered on what to do with removed notices of funding opportunities. Instead, the plaintiffs indicated that they may be able to settle the case by the end of this week.   

In June, a federal judge ruled in two cases — one filed by a group of 16 state attorneys general and another filed by the American Public Health Association — that some of the grant terminations by the NIH earlier this year were “void and illegal.”  The NIH began reinstating those awards, handing a temporary victory to researchers across the country.

Then late last month, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order ruling that while the NIH directive used to terminate millions of dollars in grants was possibly illegal, the federal court did not have jurisdiction to order the government to reinstate funds that had already been rescinded. Impacted plaintiffs would have to take their complaint to the Court of Federal Claims. 

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