Federal Judge Mandates Return of Scrubbed Health Resources by Trump Admin

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate content that was recently removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) websites, including LGBTQ-inclusive informational pages.

“The judge’s order today is an important victory for doctors, patients, and the public health of the whole country,” Zach Shelley, an attorney with Public Citizen’s Litigation Group and lead counsel on the case, said in a press release. “This order puts a stop, at least temporarily, to the irrational removal of vital health information from public access.”

The Hill reported that more than 80,000 pages had been removed from over a dozen U.S. government websites in response to Trump’s executive orders restricting “gender ideology” and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The deleted content included CDC resources on LGBTQ youth, sexual health, contraception and gender-affirming care.

“In the short time that important web pages were removed from the websites of major public health agencies, our members have seen firsthand how dangerous it can be to practice medicine without critical clinical information,” Christine Petrin, president of the board of directors for Doctors for America, said in a statement.

The sudden disappearance of this information triggered a scramble among scientists to save and archive crucial data. While some of the removed web pages have since been restored on the CDC, FDA and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) websites, the full extent of missing content — and any potential changes made to it — remains uncertain.

On February 4, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit on behalf of Doctors for America, arguing that the Trump administration had violated the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), both of which require prior notice and justification before removing government data. The plaintiffs highlighted a “dangerous gap in the scientific data” that health professionals rely on to track disease outbreaks and provide evidence-based care.

“For example, DFA members had relied daily on CDC webpages with guidelines on ‘PrEP for the Prevention of HIV Infection in the U.S.’ and ‘U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use,’” the complaint stated. “DFA members used those webpages, and other removed pages, to guide how they treat patients, particularly patients with other medical conditions that must be taken into account to safely recommend and prescribe treatment options.”

In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates sided with the plaintiffs that the removal of these resources had the potential to cause “serious injuries to the public health.” Bates ordered HHS, which oversees the CDC and FDA, to reinstate the webpages referenced in the lawsuit and collaborate with Doctors for America to identify any other essential pages medical providers rely on.

“[I]t bears emphasizing who ultimately bears the harm of defendants’ actions: everyday Americans, and most acutely, underprivileged Americans, seeking healthcare,” Bates wrote in his opinion.