'Shouldn’t be political': Alarm raised as patients left 'out of options' after Trump cuts

The mass layoffs of federal government workers being carried out by the Trump Administration with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — formerly headed by Tesla/SpaceX/X.com head Elon Musk — are affecting a variety of agencies, from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Another is the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

According to The Guardian's Rachel Leingang, NIH cuts are endangering treatment options for Natalie Phelps — a 43-year-old Washington State resident and mother of two who is fighting Stage 4 colorectal cancer.

Phelps, Leingang reports in an article published on May 28, is "raising the alarm about a setback in care for herself and others who are part of clinical trials run by the agency."

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"Her story has made it into congressional hearings and spurred a spat between a Democratic senator and the U.S. health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," Leingang explains. "Behind the scenes, she and others are advocating to get her treatment started sooner. So far, Phelps has been told that her treatment, which should have started around mid-June, will not begin until after mid-July…. Phelps is one of many Americans whose lives have been disrupted or altered by the ongoing cuts to government services made by the Trump Administration’s so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency' or DOGE."

Leingang adds, "Some NIH scientists have lost their jobs, and others have seen their grants ended."

Phelps expressed her frustration during a recent interview.

The Washington State resident told The Guardian, "I've done everything I can do. There’s nothing else I can do. I'm really just out of options. There's very limited treatments approved for colorectal cancer."

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Phelps, Leingang notes, has gone through "48 rounds of chemotherapy" as well as surgeries and "radiation therapy to her brain, leg and pelvis." And at the NIH, a cell-based immunotherapy trial from Dr. Steven Rosenberg "offered hope" to her — only now, Phelps' treatments are being delayed by Trump Administration/DOGE cuts.

Phelps told The Guardian, "That got me motivated enough to start to really panic, because my cancer between March and April really exploded and progressed to my lymph nodes and my bones. My oncologist was very anxious about the difference between four and eight weeks could make, waiting for those treatment products…. It's been so much extra stress.… It's been very intense emotionally and an extreme added stress that nobody needs. Cancer just shouldn’t be political."

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Read Rachel Leingang's full article for The Guardian at this link.