Cardiologists aren't the only ones in the health care world to voice concern over NIH cuts.

“Shocked” was how the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) described its reaction to the Trump administration's $5.8 billion cut to the FY 2018 NIH budget.

“At a time when extraordinary progress is being made against cancer and many other diseases, these draconian cuts would set research back for decades and also threaten the careers of an entire generation of young investigators working in labs and clinics all over the country who are committed to improving public health and saving lives,” it said in its blistering statement.

The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, a coalition of more than 200 patient and voluntary health groups, medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry, also issued a statement on the president’s budget blueprint.

"The administration’s proposal to gut funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $5.8 billion, or nearly 20 percent below current levels, would drastically slow progress on research to find treatments and cures for patients nationwide,” it stated.

Calling the proposed cuts of “unprecedented magnitude,” it warned that it would not just “affect every American, including patients, their families, researchers,” but would also have an economic impact in the many communities where NIH investment spurs growth.

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