Kathleen Harder-Brouwer, MD, Ravalli Family Medicine
Confession time: I have a weakness for bad movies. Movies that get played at midnight theaters. Movies where the audience is expected to yell back at the screen. Movies that A-list actors avoid like the plague. But occasionally, A-listers accidentally star in bad movies, which makes them even more fun.
One of my guilty pleasures of the latter type is the 1995 film “Outbreak.” This film presents an account of an Ebola-like virus spilling over from a monkey to a pre-Gray’s Anatomy Patrick Dempsey and then his entire hometown. It is campy and full of over-the-top acting. But it is also accurate in terms of the phenomena of spillover
In medicine, when a virus or bacteria moves from one species into another, spillover has occurred. This occurs frequently in nature and is the type of thing that keeps scientists and healthcare providers awake at night. We are watching a spillover event right now, as the bird influenza virus, known as Avian Influenza subtype H5N1, spills over from the bird population to the cattle population. The virus has also shown up in the cat population. And as of February 14, 2025, there have been 68 human cases, with one death in the United States.
This is not the first time we have seen this virus show up in the human population and it will not likely be the last. How serious a human epidemic, or pandemic, of H5N1 might be can only be predicted at this time. But what we do know is that we do not want to be caught unprepared. The more information we have on this virus, how it affects the human body, what vaccines decrease the virulence of the disease, and what treatments help us get better, the more likely we will avoid unnecessary suffering or death due to the virus. Medical research, done in universities, medical schools, private and government funded facilities, like our own Rocky Mountain Lab here in Hamilton, help give us the information to answer these questions.
The approach the current presidential administration is taking to trimming the federal budget is ham-handed at best. They are being sold to the American people as cutting waste, but they are cutting vital scientific programs that keep us healthy and give us access to life saving therapies and interventions. These cuts will decimate medical research in this country. This in turn will lead to a “brain-drain” as the best of the best in science and medicine choose to go to other countries rather than stay in the US. The ramifications of this will be felt for much longer than this administration and, truth be told, will be felt more by those on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder. If the next big medication to control diabetes is made in a country other than the US, a country upon which we have placed tariffs, its cost to our citizens will likely put it out of range for those in the average middle class
I run my own business and have sat on the school board of one of our county schools for years. I understand the value, to all of us, that responsible spending can have for the future of our country. However, cutting this type of funding, while promising tax cuts to the wealthy, is unbelievably short-sighted and we should not tolerate this madness. We need to stand up to our elected officials and tell them we expect responsible governance. The United States already suffers from lower quality health care measures in large part because of the unwarranted value placed on for-profit health care. These cuts in medical research will help drive our outcomes lower. We deserve better!
Kevin says
What was RML’s total funding from 2020 to 2024? Do the salaries of the researchers at RML constitute a tax break to the wealthy such as themselves? Did RML promote the Covid 19 Vaccination placed forcibly on millions of Americans? Frank is correct in seeking accountability.
Frank says
We the people voted for this “house cleaning”; time for your liberal hysteria to sit down and shut up. We wouldn’t be in the position we are in today if your industry had been honest AND had the best interest of our citizens as their priority. Instead, we ended up with the corrupt criminal, Anthony Fauci (the labs leader), who funded the development of COVID with my tax dollars AND is responsible for the death of millions. You have lost your credibility as a scientist and have lost the respect for your opinion on what should or should not be funded by my money.
Lawrence Hammond says
Back down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and fantasies, sir. Zero understanding of how science works but you get an A in drawing unfounded conclusions and seeing dragons everywhere. It is too bad our schools do such a bad job of teaching how the process of science works: observe and formulate a hypothesis…construct a statistically reliable experiment to test your hypothesis. If the stats suggests you are correct, proceed further, if not , formulate another hypothesis. Do not draw conclusions based on incomplete evidence, anecdotes or what you WANT to be true. If your data supports your conclusions, publish in a peer-reviewed form and see if others can replicate your results. If a consensus is reached, try replicating your work on a larger scale.
It’s not about what you wish to be true or what you think is “common sense.”
Erek says
lol @ my money.
You really have no clue how any of this works, do you? I lost braincells reading your conspiracy-laden comment. You’re crying about COVID but I bet you never once wore a mask or got any of the vaccinations—things that have been proven to help curb the spread. No, Frank, it’s people like you who are responsible for the deaths of millions because your Freedom™ was more important than the health and safety of your family, friends, and neighbors.
JD says
You are really a piece of work. You must be off the same ilk of people that keyed my car parked at Marcus Daly during the pandemic. But you’ll die and suffer the same way as everyone else and hopefully your people will die first. We need science and that it being unfunded.
Gomez says
100% agree. The problem is that some of the damage from these cuts will not be immediately apparent. Things will appear “fine”, until they’re not, and by then, it will be too late.
Linda Schmitt says
Thank you, Dr. Harder-Brouwer and Mr. Gomez. It absolutely astounds me that in this Valley, that has benefited so much from RML work, so many people do not understand what basic research is all about and how RML has pushed us forward in biology and health. Ranting about Dr. Fauci, ranting about Covid, ranting about Lord-knows-what-all is they have, while so many in your field quietly bend their heads over lab benches, looking through microscopes, tracking changes for months on end…. how many of these hollering ranters would take on a project that many not bear fruit for ten years? RML people are dedicated to science, to human health, to our lives. Ignore the ranters… we support you.