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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Rachel Leingang

Woman’s life-saving treatment delayed by Trump cuts to NIH: ‘Cancer shouldn’t be political’

A woman in a yellow shirt and blue jeans looking to her right.
Natalie Phelps at home in Bainbridge Island, Washington, on 2 April 2025. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

A 43-year-old woman and mother of two with advanced cancer says she is experiencing life-or-death delays in treatment because of the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Natalie Phelps, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, has spoken publicly, raising the alarm about a setback in care for herself and others who are part of clinical trials run by the agency. Her story has made it into congressional hearings and spurred a spat between a Democratic senator and the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. Behind the scenes, she and others are advocating to get her treatment started sooner.

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