Washington, DC—U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today called on National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni to take immediate action to restore federal funding for the Clinical Trial Unit at the LAC+USC Medical Center Rand Schrader Clinic in Los Angeles. The Rand Schrader Clinic has served a needy HIV-positive client population with excellence for twenty years.
In a letter sent today to Director Zerhouni, Boxer wrote, “Many of the patients’ situations are such that they lack the means to travel more than 18 miles to the next-closest research care site…I urge you to reconsider the decision to defund the Rand Schrader Clinic. It is unconscionable to place at risk the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and jeopardize efforts to find better treatments.”
Below is the full text of Senator Boxer’s letter to Director Zerhouni.
December 8, 2006
The Honorable Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Director
National Institutes of Health
Building 1, Room 244
1 Center Drive MSC
Bethesda, MD 20892
Dear Dr. Zerhouni:
I write to express my deep concern that National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for the Clinical Trial Unit at the LAC+USC Medical Center Rand Schrader Clinic in Los Angeles has been eliminated. The Clinic has served a needy client population with excellence for twenty years, and I request that you take immediate action to restore its funding.
Many of the patients’ situations are such that they lack the means to travel more than 18 miles to the next-closest research care site. This population includes a large number of Latinos and women, groups that account for a growing share of HIV infections. With the defunding of this vital program at the Rand Schrader Clinic, NIH will lose study participants that make valuable contributions to HIV/AIDS treatment research.
This is on top of the unacceptable costs to the patients themselves. Losing access to the patient care and innovative therapies offered by the Clinic may have serious negative health consequences for individuals. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to travel further for their treatment will do so only at additional costs in money and time.
I urge you to reconsider the decision to defund the Rand Schrader Clinic. It is unconscionable to place at risk the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and jeopardize efforts to find better treatments.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
cc: The Honorable Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
