By Guy Page
The Vermont Medical Society and eight other medical and public health organizations announced today they have won a legal settlement requiring the federal government to restore thousands of public health webpages that were removed earlier this year.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agreed on August 27 to reinstate the data, which covers topics including LGBTQ health, reproductive health, vaccine guidance, HIV/AIDS research, clinical trials, and other areas. The pages were deleted last January under a federal executive branch directive.
According to Bloomberg Business News, an HHS spokesman said the agency “remains committed to its mission of removing radical gender and DEI ideology from federal programs, subject to applicable law, to ensure taxpayer dollars deliver meaningful results for the American people.”
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to remove all statements that “promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology.” The VMS and other organizations maintain the webpages provide essential information to healthcare providers and researchers.
The lawsuit, Washington State Medical Association et al. v. Kennedy et al., was brought by groups representing physicians, nurses, pediatricians, researchers, and public health advocates. Plaintiffs argued that the removal of the information undermined access to science-based health data used by clinicians, researchers, and policymakers.
“Vermont clinicians are celebrating this clear win for science and evidence,” said Dr. Katie Marvin, president of the Vermont Medical Society. “Access to public health data saves lives by helping patients make informed decisions and ensuring resources reach the communities that need them most.”
The nine plaintiffs were the Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, AcademyHealth, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society.
Defendants included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Office of Personnel Management.