Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some CDC Webpages Reinstated, But Not All Health Care Info Is Back
The New York Times: C.D.C. Site Restores Some Purged Files After ‘Gender Ideology’ Ban Outcry
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention purged from its website thousands of pages that included terms such as “transgender,” “L.G.B.T.” and “pregnant person,” to comply with an executive order barring any material that promoted “gender ideology.” By Monday, some of the pages had reappeared, in part in response to intense media coverage, backlash from the scientific community and concern for the public’s health, according to a senior official with knowledge of the matter. (Mandavilli and Caryn Rabin, 2/3)
Stat: Microbiology Society Removes DEI Content, Following Trump Order
The professional society for microbiologists began stripping content about Black, female, and LGBTQ+ scientists from its website in the last few days, angering its members and highlighting the reach of President Trump’s directives to federal agencies to halt activities that promote diversity and inclusion. (McFarling, 2/3)
Bloomberg: US Health Experts Flying ‘Absolutely Blind’ As Federal Data Vanishes
President Donald Trump’s end of diversity, equity and inclusion language in federal agencies has caused US health data to be removed or not be updated. Medical experts warn that the losses, even in areas like flu and Covid tracking where DEI isn’t central, make it harder to manage outbreaks and fix health disparities. “When they take that data away, we’re absolutely blind,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “The true impact is more people get sick and more people die.” (Smith, Meghjani and Nix, 2/3)
Also —
The New York Times: E.P.A. Demotes Career Employees Overseeing Science, Enforcement And More
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to demote career employees who oversee scientific research, the enforcement of pollution laws, hazardous waste cleanup and the agency’s human resources department and replace them with political appointees, according to two people familiar with the approach. The move would give Trump administration loyalists more influence over aspects of the agency that were traditionally led by nonpartisan experts who have served across Republican and Democratic administrations. (Friedman, 2/4)
Stat: Nobel Laureates Call On National Academies And Biotech CEOs To Speak Out Against Trump Attacks On Science
Acknowledging the widespread fear of retaliation among early-career researchers if they speak out, a number of the laureates called on the National Academies — whose members are preeminent scientists, physicians, and engineers — and the biotechnology industry to lead the charge in resisting the Trump administration’s attacks. (Molteni, 2/3)
MedPage Today: HHS Employees Sort Out Return-To-Office Mandate
The in-office order comes as the General Services Administration announced plans to significantly reduce the federal government's real estate footprint. "One of the things that our government has become is more efficient with respect to cost, in terms of its physical footprint, as a result of increased use of telework and remote work," said Stier. "So those things do run in conflict with each other, and certainly it's so important to understand the transition needs of any organization." (Frieden, 2/3)
