Fulbright's Future in Doubt as Trump Targets Elite Scholarship
The program's academic freedom has been called into question after the Trump administration rejected awards.
By and Greg Ryan
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Ryan Sutherland thought he had all the credentials needed to win a prestigious Fulbright fellowship.
A medical student at Yale University, his proposal to study HIV transmission among transgender sex workers in Malaysia had been cleared by a US Fulbright review committee. He had worked for years with the Malaysian research center where the project was to be housed.
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CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
RFK Jr. wants to crack down on drug ads. That could cripple some broadcasters
For decades, pharmaceutical companies have shelled out big bucks to broadcasters to place ads between TV segments. But a pair of policies being considered by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could change that and leave broadcasters in financial straits. While not an outright ban, the two policies would make it significantly more difficult and expensive for drug companies to push their products across broadcasters' airwaves, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday. The policies look to either mandate that advertisers elaborate on the risks posed by their drugs — forcing ads to be longer and, therefore, more expensive — or bar drugmakers from writing off direct-to-consumer ads as business expenses on their taxes, also padding the bill, Bloomberg reported. Drug ads, which are illegal in most countries, have been a hallmark of US television since the 1980s. By raising the bar on pharmaceutical ads, the Trump administration threatens a crucial revenue source for broadcasters. Drug companies spent $5.15 billion on TV ads in 2024, a significant figure considering a recent study found that drugmakers spent almost $14 billion on direct-to-consumer ads in 2023. Despite leaner audience numbers, linear television saw an uptick in pharmaceutical ad buys in 2024, which reached $3.4 billion during the first eight months of 2024, an 8.1% year-over-year increase. Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your 50% of those drug ads were split across news broadcasters, including MSNBC, CBS News, CNN and Fox News, according to a December report from research firm eMarketer. Kennedy has long criticized the pharmaceutical industry's ability to directly advertise to consumers, which he argues leads to Americans' greater use of prescription medications. HHS acknowledged it is examining the issue but said no final decisions have been made. 'As Secretary Kennedy has consistently emphasized, direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising must prioritize accuracy, patient safety, and the public interest — not profit margins,' HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement, adding that the department is 'exploring ways to restore more rigorous oversight and improve the quality of information presented to American consumers.' The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a main industry trade association known as PhRMA, did not return a request for comment. The pair of policies would affect broadcasters airing entertainment and news alike. While news broadcasters' finances are buttressed by several sources of income — including ad revenue, licensing fees, cable and satellite fees and digital subscriptions — disincentivizing direct-to-consumer drug ads would harm traditional broadcasters and cable companies. News broadcasters have struggled for years as digital platforms, including social media platforms and streaming giants, have peeled away their ad income. After Kennedy floated banning drug ads in November, Steve Tomsic, Fox Corporation's chief financial officer, told the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference that 'it would take an enormously draconian ban on it for it to really have an impact.' 'From a quantitative perspective, it's low, single-digit percentage of our overall revenue,' Tomsic said of Fox Corp's drug ads. Fox did not provide a comment for this story at the time of publication. A CNN spokesperson emphasized the policies would be bad for the industry. Disney, ABC News and MSNBC did not respond when asked how the policies would affect their businesses. NBCUniversal, NBC News, Paramount, CBS News and Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN's parent company) declined to comment. President Donald Trump has attempted to exert control over drug industry advertising in the past. During his first term, HHS issued a regulation that would have required drug makers to include their list prices in TV ads, but a federal judge nixed the effort, saying the agency had overstepped its authority. It was a centerpiece of Trump's efforts to lower drug prices at the time. While cutting drug costs is not as high a priority this term, Trump has signed two executive orders that aim to target high drug prices. One of them called for HHS to explore facilitating pharmaceutical companies' ability to directly sell their drugs to patients at the 'most-favored-nation price,' which is tied to lower prices paid in other developed countries. The Trump administration is not alone in targeting drug ads this term. Just last week, a group of legislators led by Senators Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and Angus King, an independent from Maine, introduced a bill that looked to ban drugmakers from promoting their products on direct-to-consumer channels. Instead of an outright ban, HHS' policies would strong-arm drug advertisers into submission, avoiding costly legal battles that would play out in the courts. The US Food and Drug Administration established strict guidelines for TV drug ads in 1985, mandating that they include the drugs' side effects. It wasn't until 1997, when the FDA relaxed its policy, that the ads really took off. There is no cap on how many or how often broadcasters can run drug ads. Drug stocks dipped following Bloomberg's Tuesday report, with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) down 2.69 points, Pfizer (PFE) down 0.40 points and AstraZeneca (AZN) down 2.47 points at the time of publication.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Trump Admin Weighs Crackdown on Pharma Ads
The Trump administration is discussing policies that would make it harder and more expensive for pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to patients, in a move that could disrupt more than $10 billion in annual ad spending. Bloomberg's Rachel Cohrs Zhang has more on the story. (Source: Bloomberg)
Medscape
3 hours ago
- Medscape
Judge Deems Trump's National Institutes Of Health Grant Cuts Illegal
BOSTON (Reuters) -A federal judge in Boston on Monday said the termination of National Institutes of Health grants for research on diversity-related topics by President Donald Trump's administration was "void and illegal," and accused the government of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBT people. U.S. District Judge William Young during a non-jury trial said the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Young said he was reinstating grants that had been awarded to organizations and Democratic-led states that sued over the terminations. And the judge indicated that as the case proceeds he could issue a more sweeping decision. "This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America's LGBTQ community," said Young, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan. "Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I'm going to do it." Referring to the termination of grants for research related to issues involving racial minorities, the judge said he had in four decades on the bench "never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable." "You are bearing down on people of color because of their color," the judge said, referring to Trump's administration. "The Constitution will not permit that." Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency stands by its decision to end funding for research "that prioritized ideological agendas over scientific rigor and meaningful outcomes for the American people," and is considering an appeal. "Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration, HHS is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars support programs rooted in evidence-based practices and gold standard science – not driven by divisive DEI mandates or gender ideology," Nixon said in a statement, referring to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Rachel Meeropol of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the grant recipients who sued, said Young's ruling applies to hundreds of grants. The plaintiffs include the American Public Health Association, a membership organization for public health researchers, and 16 states led by Massachusetts. The NIH, the world's leading funder of biomedical and behavioral research, has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling about $9.5 billion and an additional $2.6 billion in contracts since Trump took office in January, according to a letter that dozens of NIH employees signed last week, protesting the cuts. The funding cuts are part of Trump's wide-ranging actions to reshape the government, slash federal spending and end government support for DEI programs and transgender healthcare. The administration's plans to cut 10,000 jobs at health agencies including NIH have been temporarily blocked by another federal judge. Trump also has signed a series of executive orders requiring agencies to ensure grant funds do not promote "gender ideology" and to end support of what it sees as discriminatory DEI programs. Conservative critics of DEI programs have portrayed them as discriminatory against white people and certain others. In line with Trump's policy agenda, the NIH has instructed staff to terminate grant funding for studies related to DEI programs, transgender issues, COVID-19 and ways to curb vaccine hesitancy, and grants that could potentially benefit Chinese universities. The trial that Young held on Monday concerned only some of the claims in the consolidated lawsuits over the cuts. The judge will consider others later. Young said he would give the parties an opportunity to present further evidence before he rules on those claims and decides whether to reinstate grants beyond those awarded to the plaintiffs. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey in a statement said Young's ruling was welcome, but that the NIH cuts had already halted crucial research into cures for disease including cancer and Alzheimer's. "He forced our research universities to lay off staff and rescind PhD offers. And he handed China and other foreign countries the opportunity to recruit away our researchers, scientists and entrepreneurs," said Healey, a Democrat. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Will Dunham and Matthew Lewis)
