Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8949

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Publication type: report

Office of the Chairman
The Benefits of Medical Research and the Role of the NIH
Washington, DC: US Senate 2000 May 17
http://hsc.utoledo.edu/research/nih_research_benefits.pdf

Abstract:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The NIH Leads the Battle Against Disease
! Leading the battle against disease. As the world’s leading medical research institution, the
NIH funds more than 35,000 research grants each year to scientists across the country
making advances against heart disease, cancer, and many other diseases. NIH-funded
scientists have won 93 Nobel Prizes over the years, and researchers in the NIH’s own labs
have won 5 Nobel Prizes.
! High returns from federal investments. The federal government, mainly through the NIH,
funds about 36 percent of all U.S. medical research. Most NIH-funded research focuses on
basic science, which creates advances across many disease categories. Publicly funded
research in general generates high rates of return to the economy, averaging 25 to 40 percent
a year.
! Successes against many diseases. NIH-funded research has contributed to dramatic
decreases in heart disease and stroke mortality rates, increased cancer survival rates, new
medications for mental illness, vaccines to protect against infectious diseases, and many
other advances in medicine.
! NIH behind 7 of 21 top drugs. Of the 21 most important drugs introduced between 1965 and
1992, 15 were developed using knowledge and techniques from federally funded research. Of
these, NIH research led to the development of 7 drugs used to treat patients with cancer,
AIDS, hypertension, depression, herpes, and anemia.

Reducing the Economic Costs of Illness
! Economic costs of illness. The economic costs of illness in the U.S. are approximately $3
trillion annually, representing 31 percent of the nation’s GDP. This includes “direct” costs of
public and private health care spending of $1.3 trillion, and “indirect” illness costs from
reduced ability to work and premature death of $1.7 trillion.
! NIH investments are small compared to economic costs of illness. NIH-funded medical
advances are central to lowering the huge economic costs of illness. The NIH is fighting this
$3 trillion battle with a budget of just $16 billion, or less than one percent of annual illness
costs.
! Reducing the direct costs of illness. Past advances have dramatically reduced health care
costs for such illnesses as tuberculosis, polio, peptic ulcers, and schizophrenia. Future
advances hold great promise of further reducing costs, such as with drug treatments that
decrease hospital stays and invasive surgeries. One study found that, on average, a $1
increase in drug expenditures reduces hospital expenditures by about $3.65.
! Reducing the indirect costs of illness. Medical advances also cut illness costs by reducing
lost economic output from disability and premature death. For example, new treatments for
AIDS-some developed with funding from the NIH-caused the mortality rate from AIDS
to drop over 60 percent in the mid-1990s, thus allowing tens of thousands of Americans to
continue contributing to our society and economy.

Illness and the Value of Life
! The value of life. Most Americans value their life and health very highly. By extending life
and improving health, medical research generates great value to us all, in addition to its role
in lowering the economic costs of illness.
! Longevity is worth trillions of dollars. U.S. longevity has increased as the overall U.S. death
rate has dropped by one-third since 1970. A recent study found that these longevity increases
have created net “value of life” gains to Americans of about $2.4 trillion every year. Such
estimates place a value on a year of life based on the typical person’s “willingness to pay” to
avoid various safety risks.
! High returns from NIH-funded research. A portion of the $2.4 trillion in annual longevity
gains stem from medical research, and NIH-funded research in particular. If just 10 percent
of the value of longevity increases ($240 billion) resulted from NIH-funded research, it
indicates a payoff of about 15 times the annual NIH investment of $16 billion.
! Cardiovascular disease. Advances against the biggest killer of Americans, cardiovascular
disease, illustrate the benefits of medical research. The death rate from cardiovascular disease
has fallen by more than 50 percent since 1970. About one-third of the decline is the result of
advances in medical technology, according to a recent study.

The NIH’s Role is More Important Than Ever
! Cost of illness threatens to rise. The costs of illness may grow higher if we fail to push
ahead with further research. Infectious diseases, in particular, are continually creating new
health costs. The recent emergence of Lyme disease, E. coli, and hantavirus, for example,
show how nature continues to evolve new threats to health. In addition, dangerous bacteria
are evolving at an alarming rate and grow resistant to every new round of antibiotics.
! The NIH agenda. NIH-funded research is creating progress in many exciting areas, such as
the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and other brain illnesses; better treatment of spinal
cord injuries; and greater knowledge of the mechanisms that cause cancer. The human
genome project, supported by NIH, holds the prospect of far-reaching advances in gene
therapy to treat many illnesses.

Notes:

Full report is a 2MB .pdf