As the nation's largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research, the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center is home to cutting edge science and groundbreaking medical studies. It even serves as a "hospital of last resort" for patients when standard treatment has failed and there are no other alternatives. At least it did -- until October 1st when new patients had to be turned away because of the government shutdown. These patients would have been part of new clinical trials -- and about 200 of them have already been turned away. According to NIH Director Francis Collins, this includes about 30 children, many of them cancer patients.
