On March 5, a federal judge in Massachusetts filed a preliminary injunction to block a proposed National Institutes of Health policy that would cap reimbursements for indirect research costs at 15%, according to court documents obtained by Becker's.
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley had first issued a temporary restraining order in February to halt the policy, and with the March 5 ruling, she extended the block through a longer-term preliminary injunction as lawsuits proceed. The NIH proposal aims to lower reimbursements for overhead costs for medical research projects from the current average of about 27% to 28%, which the Trump administration has said would save more than $4 billion annually.
Lawsuits filed by 22 states and organizations representing research institutions have argued it would limit research activity and endanger patients. A Feb. 10 lawsuit from the Association of American Medical Colleges and other organizations said the cuts would cause "irreparable harm." In a statement March 5, the AAMC applauded Ms. Kelley's preliminary injunction to keep the cuts on hold.
"The AAMC is heartened that a federal court agreed that critical research funding must continue while the case proceeds," AAMC President and CEO David Skorton, MD, said in the release. "These unlawful cuts would slow medical progress and cost lives, and we will continue our fight to stop the implementation of this harmful action."
Three more recent federal health updates:
1. President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress took place March 4. Healthcare policy mentions were largely absent from the roughly 1-hour, 40-minute speech in which the president recapped executive orders his administration has issued since taking office Jan. 20. Much of the speech focused on his administration's promise to slash wasteful spending within the federal government, tariffs, immigration and the military. On healthcare, President Trump mentioned an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization, which he signed on his first day in office.
He said the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by Elon Musk, has "found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud," including $22 billion in HHS spending. The DOGE website estimates it has identified $105 billion in savings. However, reports from national media outlets have found miscalculations in the savings estimates, with errors such as inflated contract values and double counting.
Medicaid did not come up during the address. The omission comes as hospitals nationwide raise alarms over the House's recently passed budget resolution, which is expected to trigger significant reductions in Medicaid funding.
2. The White House has rescinded termination letters for an unknown number of CDC employees fired in February, NPR reported March 4. Most of the roughly 750 dismissed staff members were in their probationary periods, with inadequate performance cited as the justification, according to NPR.
Some CDC staff members received emails March 4 stating that their terminations had been rescinded, according to sources at the agency and emails reviewed by NPR.
"As a result, your physical and logical access has been restored and you are cleared to return to work on Wednesday, March 5, 2025," one of the emails reviewed by NPR stated. "We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused."
The reversals come as federal agencies must develop restructuring plans by March 13, which could result in further staff reductions.
3. Also on March 4, a federal judge extended a block on President Trump's executive orders cutting federal funding for providers of gender transition care for individuals younger than 19, The Washington Post reported.
The ruling stems from a February lawsuit filed by families with transgender or nonbinary children, who alleged the executive orders disrupted their healthcare. Multiple hospitals across the U.S. have paused gender-affirming care for minors following the executive order.
The preliminary injunction occurred a day before the temporary restraining order was slated to expire, the Post reported.
Editor's note: This story was updated March 5 at 5:16 p.m. Central time.