U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama took part in a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing where he questioned Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about efforts to improve research transparency and address other ethical issues in federally funded medical research.
During the hearing, Senator Tuberville expressed concerns about public trust in healthcare following the COVID-19 pandemic. He referenced recent NIH policy changes that aim to increase transparency by removing embargo periods on federally funded research publications. “Doctor, thanks for being here today. Thanks for coming to my state of Alabama not too long ago. I hear you had a great visit. And thanks for trying to put the genie back in the bottle on trust in my state. Nobody trusts health care anymore. It’s been a disaster. The four years, five years of COVID has put us in a tailspin. So, thank you for trying to work with that. Hopefully, we can all help you with in that situation because we need to believe in our healthcare system.
NIH is accelerating public access to federally funded research by removing temporary delays known as ‘embargo periods,’ allowing taxpayers to see results sooner, and increasing transparency. Do you think making NIH funding research immediately available would help rebuild trust among Americans who feel science has become politicized or disconnected from the public?”
Dr. Bhattacharya responded: “Absolutely, yes. There’s no reason why there should be red tape when American-funded science then is published and then you have to wait to, like, see it. It’s ridiculous. And we’ve ended that, Senator.”
Senator Tuberville also addressed ethical concerns regarding the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions in scientific studies supported by taxpayer funds: “A couple weeks ago, you announced that NIH was ending the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions and all taxpayer funded research conducted or funded by NIH. I’m grateful that you took action to prevent tax dollars from being used for research that exploits the remains of aborted children. Can you please explain how advances in technology and innovation allow us to conduct lifesaving medical research without having this?”
Dr. Bhattacharya replied: “Absolutely, Senator. So, we did an analysis and, actually, even when it was legal during the Biden administration, the use of human fetal tissue had been plummeting because there are better alternatives available that are not ethically conflicted. And, so, we took this action because we wanted to make sure that the fruits of NIH research was morally acceptable to the entire American population.”
Tuberville further questioned disparities between funding allocated for osteopathic medicine schools versus MD-granting institutions: “You know, my state has two schools of osteopathic medicine. The funding for osteopathic medicine is .1% of NIH funding while MD-graining schools are receiving roughly 40%. What’s your thoughts on that disparity between the two?”
Bhattacharya acknowledged these disparities: “I think generally that the NIH portfolio of research investments outside are too concentrated in a relatively few institutions… I’m thinking of ways to broaden the base of that so that it includes a much larger range of ideas…”
The discussion also covered gain-of-function research funding oversight: “And one quick question too,” Tuberville asked Dr. Bhattacharya regarding whether such controversial projects receive U.S.-backed support abroad as well as domestically.
Bhattacharya stated: “Yeah, we’re not gonna fund any dangerous sort of Gain-of-function… No more futures of research programs in Wuhan China.”
Senator Tuberville serves on several committees including Armed Services; Agriculture; Veterans’ Affairs; HELP; and Aging.