Public health data removed under Trump, labeled wasteful and extreme, to be restored after settlement

Public health data that disappeared from federal government websites is coming back, according to a settlement between the government and the nine medical organizations and public health nonprofits that sued to get it back.

The information started vanishing after President Trump signed executive orders on Jan. 20 to remove gender ideology and DEI programs.

“The kind of information that’s missing seemed to be defined by key words,” said Dr. John Bramhall, the president of the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), which was one of the plaintiffs in the case.

He said a wide swath of information was cleared out. A list included titles ranging from “Supporting LGBTQ+Youth” and “Diversity Action Plans” to “CDC Efforts to End Gender-Based Violence” and “Health of Women Strategic Plan.”

Removal of public health data alarmed medical industry

Bramhall said alarmed medical professionals contacted the WSMA to report information they relied on about pregnancy risks, opioid use disorder, and sexually transmitted diseases had simply disappeared.

“And it’s not gone because it’s wrong, and it’s not gone because it was outdated,” Bramhall said. “It’s gone because of political pressure from the (Trump) administration.”

“Trust is at the core of pediatrics. Parents trust us to put their children first, and we rely on accurate data to guide their care,” stated Dr. James Polo, president of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which was another plaintiff in the lawsuit. “When critical health information disappeared overnight, that trust was undermined and children’s health was put at risk.”

According to the settlement, Bramhall said, “These websites were to be restored to the condition that they were before all this kerfuffle, i.e., the way they were in January of this year.”

It’s his understanding that the data must be back within two months. Bramhall said the lawsuit was never about politics, but to ensure that the information on government websites is accurate, trustworthy, and complete.

“The CDC has been considered to be the gold standard agency,” Bramhall said. “It’s used not just in Washington State and the nation, it’s used internationally as a reference source for the collation of information about a very wide range of public health issues.”

In a statement to The Seattle Times, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 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.”

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