Navy Veteran Warns Trump’s Funding Freeze Threatens Life-Saving Cancer Treatment

News
Alexis N. Crockett
March 1, 2025
9 minutes read

(Photo: Bloomberg)

A U.S. Navy veteran is raising the alarm over the Trump administration’s funding freeze, which he says could put life-saving cancer treatments at risk. Kyle Lewis, a former counterterrorism analyst at U.S. Cyber Command, credits a clinical trial with saving his life and fears that others in need may lose access to crucial care.

Lewis, diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2020, was given just weeks to live. A doctor at Johns Hopkins placed him in a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which ultimately turned his prognosis around.

“It is literally the only reason that I am here today,” Lewis said, emphasizing the critical role of NIH funding. “And that is now at risk, as you mentioned, [so] is clinical trials for millions of other Americans across the country who have cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

And people, again, as you mentioned, who are far, far more vulnerable than I am, including children.” The Trump administration’s budget freeze stems from an executive order aimed at eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse” in government spending. However, the decision to halt NIH funding has drawn criticism from medical professionals and patients who rely on clinical trials for survival.

Donald Trump — (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Lewis expressed deep concern about what would have happened had the funding freeze occurred during his treatment. Speaking with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, he stressed that without NIH support, his trial—and those of countless others—would have come to an abrupt halt.

“The drugs would have stopped, like immediately. This funding doesn’t just pay for, you know, pieces and parts of it. It pays for the entire clinical trial, including things like just turning on the lights and paying the doctors to spend their time doing this,” Lewis explained. “So it’s a complete nonstarter when this funding is shut off or frozen. Nothing happens at all.”

The impact of these cuts extends beyond cancer research, affecting clinical trials for various life-threatening diseases. Critics argue that freezing funds before conducting efficient investigations places vulnerable patients at grave risk.

Advocates are urging lawmakers to reconsider the funding freeze and ensure that vital research continues uninterrupted. For now, patients like Lewis are left wondering if future breakthroughs will be halted in their tracks—just when they’re needed the most.