US Health Agencies Sued Over Removal Of Health Data Websites

(Reuters) – A medical advocacy group on Tuesday sued the main U.S. health agencies over the sudden removal of websites containing public health information in response to an executive order by President Donald Trump targeting what his administration deemed to be “gender ideology extremism.”

Doctors for America said in the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. federal court, that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed “numerous” longstanding websites since the order.

Those include a page on behavioral health risks among youth, which the lawsuit says is important for understanding health challenges faced by young people, including bullying and vaping; pages with data on the prevalence of HIV and associated risky behaviors; and a page on getting tested for HIV, which the lawsuit called “an important communication tool for physicians.”

The liberal-leaning group also said in its lawsuit that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has removed pages recommending the inclusion of more women and underrepresented groups in clinical trials.

“The removal of this information deprives researchers of access to information that is necessary for treating patients, for developing clinical studies that produce results that accurately reflect the effects treatments will have in clinical practice, and for developing practices and policies that protect the health of vulnerable populations and the country as a whole,” the lawsuit said.

Trump, a Republican, signed an executive order on his first day back in office that the United States will recognize two sexes, male and female. On Jan. 29, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued a memorandum instructing agencies to take down any public-facing materials that promote what they deem to be “gender ideology.”

Tuesday’s lawsuit names the CDC, FDA, and their parent agency the Department of Health and Human Services as defendants. It asks the court to rule that OPM’s memorandum exceeded the agency’s authority and to order the websites to be put back online.

HHS and the CDC declined to comment. The FDA and OPM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Doctors for America was founded in 2008 by Vivek Murthy, who served as U.S. Surgeon General under Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden; Mandy Cohen, who served as CDC director under Biden; and Alice Chen, now a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles’ medical school.

(Reporting in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Aurora Ellis and Alexia Garamfalvi)