Monday, September 29, 2014

Cancer research and other medical funding is hurt by Congress's budget games - Stephen Koff, Plain Dealer

Congress instead plans to pass a temporary measure to take effect Oct. 1 with no or minimal spending increases. Congress may consider spending hikes in December, but only once its political makeup for 2015 is clear. This does not mean that Congress will or won't eventually cut or raise the amount of money it already provides for medical research at centers like Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic. And the timing of Congress's budget dance is only slightly coincidental with the fact that Dr. Stanton Gerson, director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Seidman Cancer Center, came to Washington to participate in Cancer Lobby Day, sponsored by the American Cancer Society's advocacy group, the Cancer Action Network. But Gerson and others in the research community happen to be witnessing what happens when Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on how to spend taxpayer money and the fiscal year ends. http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/09/cancer_research_and_other_medi.html