USA: Judge orders CDC, FDA, HHS webpages to be restored

A judge has granted Public Citizen’s motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Doctors for America against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). The lawsuit challenges the agencies’ removal from publicly accessible government websites of vital health-related data and other information used by physicians, researchers, and other health professionals.

The TRO orders the agencies to restore the webpages and datasets.

Dr. Christine Petrin, president of the board of directors for Doctors for America, “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. For the safety of our patients, we applaud the decision to restore this information, placing it back in the hands of providers around the country to keep their patients and communities safe and healthy.”

Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, a member of the board of directors for Doctors for America, added: “Today’s victory recognizes just how important these webpages are for us as physicians and researchers as we work to care for patients and improve public health. When these pages went dark, leaving us without access to crucial clinical information and public health data, many of my colleagues and I faced challenges in providing evidence-based care to patients, sometimes even leading to delays in doing so. We will continue to fight to reinstate these pages permanently so that no other patients face any harm.”

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Source: Doctors for America, 11 February 2025