A group of 16 states led by New York has sued the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over its decision to cancel tens of millions of grants focused on life-saving medical research, including studies on Alzheimer’s, substance abuse, and HIV. The lawsuit claims that NIH letters terminating these grants arbitrarily labeled them as “DEI studies” and refused to provide a factual basis for this claim.
The lawsuits were filed just days after the Department of Health and Human Services laid off 10,000 more workers in an effort to reduce government spending. Critics argue that the move is putting politics over public health, risking lives and livelihoods in the process.
“Millions of Americans depend on our nation’s research institutions for treatments and cures to the diseases that devastate families every day,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. The lawsuit seeks to restore grant funding, ensure the government uses lawful procedures in determining funding, and prevent similar disruptions to future studies.
The NIH had announced that it would terminate grants focused on Alzheimer’s disease in Asian and Latino Americans, substance abuse risks for LGBTQ+ youth, and HIV treatment in Ghana. Critics argue that these projects were essential to addressing pressing public health issues.
The lawsuit names Robert Kennedy, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and various NIH agencies as defendants. The NIH had claimed that these grants were incompatible with agency priorities, but provided no factual basis for this claim.
Source: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/04/states-sue-national-institutes-health-trump-research-grants/82855850007