USAID Funding Pause Freezes Dozens Of Research Studies

The New York Times (2/6, Nolen) reports that after USAID withdrew funding and “issued a stop-work order to all organizations” that receive its funding worldwide, “dozens” of research studies “have been abruptly frozen, leaving people around the world with experimental drugs and medical products in their bodies, cut off from the researchers who were monitoring them, and generating waves of suspicion and fear.” The Times says, “In interviews, scientists – who are forbidden by the terms of the stop-work order to speak with the news media – described agonizing choices: violate the stop-work orders and continue to care for trial volunteers, or leave them alone to face potential side effects and harm.”