NIH Is Failing Sepsis Patients Like Kyle Busch: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
May 26, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Director of Science Advancement and Outreach Dr. Emily Trunnell regarding sepsis research following the death of NASCAR driver Kyle Busch:

The tragedy of Kyle Busch’s death is magnified by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) continued funding of failed sepsis experiments on mice and other animals—even though the agency has known since 2013 that other animals do not develop human sepsis, but a different condition entirely. In 2021, PETA filed a landmark lawsuit, which is ongoing, to compel NIH to end this waste. NIH has spent $1.4 billion on sepsis experiments on animals with no successful, targeted treatments to show for it. Scientists conducting state-of-the-art, animal-free research could have used that money to help the 350,000 people who die from sepsis every year. NIH must redirect these funds now.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.