CDC, FDA, HHS Sued After Health Webpages Go Down

The CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 25, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A medical group filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and several U.S. health agencies for removing webpages and data from agency websites in recent days.

Doctors for America filed the lawsuit against OPM, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the removal of “a range of health-related data and other information used every day” by researchers and professionals. The lawsuit was filed by the Public Citizen Litigation Group on behalf of the medical organization.

“The removal of the webpages and datasets creates a dangerous gap in the scientific data available to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, deprives physicians of resources that guide clinical practice, and takes away key resources for communicating and engaging with patients,” the lawyers for the group wrote in the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

They contended that the removal of that data “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.”

Over the past several days, several CDC webpages were taken down to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as gender ideology, a spokesperson for the agency told The Epoch Times on Tuesday.

“All changes to the HHS website and HHS division websites are in accordance with President Trump’s January 20 Executive Orders, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, and Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” the CDC spokesperson told The Epoch Times, responding to a question about pages that were taken down.

As of Wednesday morning, the webpages that are down include “Health Disparities Among LGBTQ Youth,” “Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of Vaccine for Mpox Prevention,” and “Fast Facts: HIV and Transgender People”; as well as pages for HIV data and the U.S. global HIV program, PEPFAR, among others, according to an Epoch Times review.

A page that was titled “Safer Food Choices for Pregnant People” was renamed ”Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women.” When the previous version is accessed, the page displays a message saying it was moved to the one referencing pregnant women instead.

Some CDC pages now display a message saying that the agency is working to comply with Trump’s executive orders.

The Doctors for America complaint provides details on multiple datasets that were taken down in recent days, including the “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System,” “The Social Vulnerability Index,” and guidance around HIV treatments.

Doctors for America is asking the court to order the agencies to restore the removed materials and prohibit the agencies from making similar moves in the future.

Trump’s nominee to lead the HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is awaiting full Senate confirmation. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee advanced his nomination to the Senate floor for a full vote with a 14–13 tally.

The full Senate vote is expected to happen next week.

Trump also named former White House official Russell Vought to lead the OPM.

When he was sworn into office on Jan. 2o, Trump said that he would end DEI programs in the federal government and issued an order targeting such policies soon after. The president also signed an order stating that it is now “the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”