WASHINGTON, D.C. - While massive federal and state
budget cuts are costing Americans education and health care, university research
laboratories are bilking taxpayers out of billions of dollars, according
to a report released today.
Dozens of laboratories are named in an independent audit
of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), suggesting more than $10
billion is being spent on research, much of it on useless, often-times
redundant studies.
Michael Budkie, A.H.T. - a nationally-known animal
studies researcher - released his NIH Report, entitled "The Experimentation
Scandal," on Monday.
The audit estimates the cost to taxpayers for the
wasteful spending is more than $1 million an hour. The report details
examples where the identical research - all funded by the NIH - is
duplicated needlessly in scores of U.S. laboratories.
Among the big-name universities listed in the report as
receiving dollars for redundant research are Johns Hopkins ($191.4
million), Yale ($173.4 million), Univ. of Washington ($270.85 million),
Pennsylvania ($215.7 million) and UCLA ($144.9 million). For a complete list
of U.S. laboratories, see Mr. Budkie's report.
"What's more important - keeping multi-million dollar
laboratories open to do redundant research, or keeping Americans alive," said
Mr. Budkie in his lengthy report. He is calling for a "radical
restructuring" of the NIH grant approval system.
For a copy of the report, contact Mr. Budkie at (513)
575-5517.
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