Additionally, actor Colin Egglesfield discloses his third cancer diagnosis and encourages others to undergo screenings. “ACS formulates guidelines for cancer screening and prevention, guided by the most recent data and evidence available, to cater to the requirements of healthcare providers, the general populace, and policy,” he stated. “We are deeply concerned that alterations in data collection and dissemination might affect these endeavors in the future.” The association worries about how the removal of data and potential modifications to data collection procedures might impede its research capabilities.
The ACS alert emerged shortly after Doctors For America, a medical nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit against multiple Trump administration agencies for abruptly deleting health information from numerous government websites. The lawsuit specifically targets the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Health and Human Services (which oversees the CDC and FDA), seeking a federal court order in Washington, D.C. to compel the government to reinstate the webpages and datasets. ABC News has contacted the agencies for their comments.
In a response to ABC News, the CDC affirmed that changes to the HHS website and HHS division websites are in compliance with President Trump’s Executive Orders issued on January 20, which focus on safeguarding women from gender ideology extremism and reinstating biological truths in the federal government while ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs. According to the Office of Personnel Management, guidance on both executive orders prompted HHS and its divisions to act accordingly.
In another statement to ABC News via email, the CDC’s SVI coordinator attributed the online constraints to the HHS’s “pause on mass communications and public appearances that are not directly linked to emergencies or crucial to maintaining public health.” The statement indicated that the pause is temporary to allow the new team to establish a review and prioritization process.
Doctors for America, in the lawsuit, expressed apprehensions about the absence of data, citing that it creates a critical void in scientific data essential for monitoring and responding to disease outbreaks, deprives physicians of practice-guiding resources, and hampers communication and engagement with patients. When asked last Friday if government websites would be temporarily shut down for scrubbing, the president mentioned it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Trump added, “DEI … would have ruined our country, and now it’s dead. I think DEI is dead. So, if they want to scrub the website, that’s OK with me. But I can’t tell you.”
This report was contributed to by ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud and Peter Charalambous. The cancer research group urges the Trump administration to reinstate data access.
