A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restore web pages and datasets that were taken down in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order.
Under U.S. District Judge John Bates’ order, HHS, the CDC and the FDA are required to restore data sets and pages that were ‘removed or substantially modified’ last month ‘without adequate notice or reasoned explanation.’
Earlier this month, Doctors for America, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personal Management (OPM), the CDC, the FDA and HHS for removing information that it says was used by doctors and researchers.
‘Removing critical clinical information and datasets from the websites of CDC, FDA, and HHS not only puts the health of our patients at risk, but also endangers research that improves the health and health care of the American public,’ Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, a member of the board of directors for Doctors for America, said in a statement on the organization’s website. ‘Federal public health agencies must reinstate these resources in full to protect our patients.’
‘These federal agencies exist to serve the American people by protecting public health,’ Zach Shelley, an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead counsel on the case, said in the same statement. ‘Removing this vital information flouts that mandate. Our lawsuit seeks to hold them to their responsibilities to the people of this country.’
Doctors for America alleged in its complaint that the removal of the web pages and data sets created a ‘dangerous gap in the scientific data available to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks.’
According to the complaint, the pages and data sets that were either taken down or modified included a report on an HIV medication, pages on ‘environmental justice,’ pages on HIV monitoring and testing and a CDC guide on contraceptives, among others. Doctors for America claim that these pages and reports were either removed or modified to ‘combat what the president described as ‘gender ideology.’’
The web pages in question were taken down in accordance with President Trump’s order on ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.’ In the order, President Trump outlines precise definitions of ‘woman,’ ‘man,’ ‘female,’ ‘male’ and other gendered words, establishing the recognition of two genders as official U.S. policy.
‘The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself,’ the order reads.