Connect with us

Health

C.D.C. Site Restores Some Purged Files After ‘Gender Ideology’ Ban Outcry

Published

on

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.

The purge had also swept up vaccine information statements, which must be given to patients before they can be immunized; guidelines for contraception; and several pages on how race and racism affect health outcomes. Also removed was a database containing 20 years of H.I.V. data that doctors rely on to determine whether a pregnant woman lives in an area of high H.I.V. prevalence and should be tested for the virus in her third trimester.

Some of these resources were also reinstated, but the return was not entirely smooth. Charts and tables in the H.I.V. database could be reached through a Google search, for instance, but the C.D.C.’s own portal remained broken.

C.D.C. employees are “fully and completely implementing the executive order,” said a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. But “historical data, articles, and clinical guidelines continue to be available,” the official said. “That essentially is how this is being applied.”

Advertisement

The shake-up accompanied two other directives also aimed at expunging information on certain topics. C.D.C. scientists were ordered late on Friday to withdraw any pending publications, at any scientific journal, that mention the forbidden terms, according to an email viewed by The New York Times.

Separately, a directive prohibiting C.D.C. employees from holding scientific meetings or communicating with other organizations or the public was indefinitely extended on Saturday, when it was expected to lapse, according to another email obtained by The Times.

“I am very fearful and I am very angry about what is happening right now,” said Dr. Ina Park, an expert in H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections at the University of California, San Francisco.

The directive also targeted pages on other government websites, including a webpage on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, under the aegis of the Health and Human Services Department. That provision forbids “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), in covered health programs or activities.” It, too, was back online on Monday.

The C.D.C.’s recommendations are the bedrock of clinical practice in the United States. Every hospital’s procedural manuals are filled with the agency’s documents, and clinicians regularly refer to the recommendations, on the website or through the agency’s app.

Advertisement

Now, however, searching for some terms leads to a dead link or to pages that have been stripped of key details, or the search yields a suggestion to explore another topic instead. For instance, a search for the word “abortion” suggests that the user “also try: adoption.”

Some pages — for instance, those on transgender health — were expected to remain absent because they might promote “gender ideology.”

“I have no idea what that term means,” said Dr. Richard Besser, who served as acting director of the C.D.C. in 2009.

“We’re not talking here about ideology — we’re talking about public health,” he added. “We’re talking about people whose lives are being put at risk.”

The disappearance of the pages is already affecting medical care. In Washington State, Dr. Tim Menza, a medical director for King County’s sexual health clinic, worried that hard-won progress against early syphilis in gay and bisexual men would be lost.

Advertisement

Dr. Jessica Weyer, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Concord, N.H., said she could not guide her patients’ choice of contraception without access to the complex eligibility criteria. For instance, the guidelines for birth control include recommendations for patients with various medical conditions. They also list drug interactions that must be taken into account and give providers information on newer methods like vaginal rings.

“If a patient has high blood pressure or migraine headaches, I need to know what’s safe for her,” Dr. Alison Stuebe, an obstetrician-gynecologist in North Carolina, said.

The C.D.C. website is ostensibly being altered to comply with Mr. Trump’s executive orders on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and “defending women.” But vaccine information statements and contraception guidelines are unrelated to those orders, Dr. Weyer said.

“This just seems like a purposeful removal of important information providing safe contraception, which I view as terrifying,” she said. “It sounds like they want to control women, not defend women.”

Although the executive orders did not mention race, several resources on structural racism and health disparities in certain communities also disappeared on Friday.

Advertisement

In the United States, race and ethnicity are strongly linked to health. Black and Native American women are two to three times as likely as white women to die during pregnancy and after childbirth, and their babies face roughly twice the risk of dying before their first birthday. Diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases are also much more prevalent, and life expectancy is lower, among racial and ethnic minority groups.

Information on racial disparities is crucial for helping health care providers to focus on the groups most at risk, said Linda Goler Blount, president of the Women’s Black Health Imperative, an advocacy group. During the Covid pandemic, she noted, health researchers discovered that pulse oximeter devices, which measure blood oxygen levels, “didn’t work on people with dark skin.” That disparity might have contributed to higher death rates among communities of color.

“If we can’t collect data by race, ethnic identity and gender identity, we’re going to see mortality rates increase,” Ms. Blount said.

Mr. Trump’s orders purged more than 8,000 web pages across more than a dozen U.S. government websites. In some cases, the executive orders also targeted the work of private citizens.

A memo to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which publishes papers from both government and academic researchers, gave employees until 5 p.m. on Friday to scrub the agency’s publication, Patient Safety Network, of terms including “transgender,” “nonbinary,” “L.G.B.T.” and “gender identity.”

Advertisement

Among the roughly 20 research papers that were taken down was one from 2022 detailing how clinicians can better identify emergency room patients at risk of suicide. The paper’s lead author, Dr. Gordon Schiff, is the director of quality and safety for the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care; he is not a government scientist. The paper was flagged for a single line: “High risk groups include male sex, being young, veterans, Indigenous tribes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (L.G.B.T.Q.).”

Dr. Schiff said he was shocked by the new administration’s “extreme censorship.” “This whole idea that the risk factors or commentary should be based on political ideology rather than data and truth is a pretty scary prospect,” he said.

Some experts are exploring the legality of the administration’s deleting content from federal websites and papers written by C.D.C. scientists. But in the case of Dr. Schiff’s paper, the administration clearly crossed the line, said Larry Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Center on Global Health Law.

“To me, that’s classic viewpoint censorship in violation of the First Amendment,” Mr. Gostin said.

“While the administration may be able to silence government health officials carrying out their official duties, it cannot drag private scientists into its web of censorship,” he added. “And all that censorship for expressing a single word with which the government objects.”

Advertisement

Health

Everything You Need To Know About Zepbound for Weight Loss, Including Costs

Published

on

Everything You Need To Know About Zepbound for Weight Loss, Including Costs


Advertisement





What Is Zepbound? Weight-Loss Benefits, Costs and Dosage




















Advertisement





Advertisement


Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.


Use escape to exit the menu.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Health

‘Gas station heroin’ banned in another state amid nationwide crackdowns

Published

on

‘Gas station heroin’ banned in another state amid nationwide crackdowns

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A dangerous substance dubbed “gas station heroin” continues to alarm medical professionals, with more states making moves to restrict or ban tianeptine.

Fourteen states have officially classified the tricyclic antidepressant as a Schedule I controlled substance.

Connecticut is the latest state to crack down, officially banning the sale and use of the substance starting on Wednesday.

HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE AVAILABLE IN STORES ACROSS THE NATION

Advertisement

Tianeptine, which can produce euphoria in higher doses, can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some countries have taken steps to restrict how tianeptine is prescribed or dispensed, and have even revised the labels to warn people of its potential addictive qualities.

Tianeptine can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids. (iStock)

Misuse of tianeptine can cause severe adverse health effects, including respiratory depression, severe sedation and death, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Some companies market the drug as an aid for pain, anxiety and depression, or as a means of improving mental alertness in a pill, powder, salt or liquid form.

Advertisement

The products are typically sold at convenience stores, gas stations, vape shops and online retailers, and go by names like Tianaa, ZaZa, Neptune’s Fix, Pegasus and TD Red.

Connecticut is the 15th state to classify tianeptine as a Schedule I controlled substance. (Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Connecticut Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said in a press release that the schedule change is a necessary step to combat addiction.

“With false marketing that led consumers to believe these are safe products, and with candy-like flavor options, these substances posed a clear threat to those battling substance-use disorder and our youngest residents,” she added.

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The Nutmeg State also added Mitragyna speciosa (kratom), 7-hydroxymitragynine, Bromazolam, Flubromazolam, Nitazenes and Phenibut to the schedule classification.

Earlier this month, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary penned a letter sounding the alarm on what he called a “dangerous and growing health trend.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES

“I am very concerned,” Makary wrote. “I want the public to be especially aware of this dangerous product and the serious and continuing risk it poses to America’s youth.”

Advertisement

New York-based Robert Schwaner, M.D., vice chair of system clinical affairs at Stony Brook Emergency Medicine, told Fox News Digital that the FDA has never approved tianeptine as a dietary supplement.

“As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.” (Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office)

“The euphoria at low doses is primarily due to increased serotonergic activity from its serotonin reuptake effects. With increasing doses, the mu-opioid receptor stimulation may become lethal,” said Schwaner. “As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.”

Schwaner said he believes the substance requires national regulation due to its addictive qualities. 

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

Advertisement

“Acting at the same receptor as opioids, tianeptine has the potential for an individual to develop tolerance, subsequent dependence and withdrawal from its use,” he cautioned.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Health

Tai Chi Walking Boosts Weight Loss After 50—With Less Joint Pain and Stress

Published

on

Tai Chi Walking Boosts Weight Loss After 50—With Less Joint Pain and Stress


Advertisement





Tai Chi Walking Boosts Weight Loss and Eases Joint Pain




















Advertisement





Advertisement


Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.


Use escape to exit the menu.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Trending