Title:

EMail from Harold Varmus to Christopher Reeve

Creator:

Varmus, Harold
National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Office of the Director

Recipient:

Reeve, Christopher

Date:

28 August 1996

Description:

In 1996, actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed in a riding accident a year earlier, began lobbying for more research into spinal cord injury. He got President Clinton to request $10 million of the NIH budget for this area, and several months later gave this speech to the Democratic National Convention. Varmus had visited Reeve in Bedford, NY several weeks earlier to help him write this address, which called on the politicians to address the needs of disabled Americans, especially by funding research into the causes and cures for disabling conditions. He noted that the government spends nearly $9 billion per year maintaining people with spinal cord injuries, but only $40 million on research that would help or even cure them.

Location:

Box: 7. Folder: 15

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Electronic mail

Format:

Text

Extent:

2 pages

Language:

English

Legacy ID:

MVBBYM

NLM ID:

101584926X397

Profiles Collection:

The Harold Varmus Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584926X397

Story Section:

Basic Science and Congressional Politics: NIH Director, 1993-1999