Washington state medical groups sue over deleted health, science data from websites
The Washington State Medical Association is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the federal government against removal of public health data earlier this year from websites.
The suit includes WSMA and eight co-plaintiffs, including the state nurses association and the state chapter of pediatricians. The lawsuit aims to stop the deletion of public health and science data.
The suit, filed on May 20 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, would require the administration to restore deleted websites and stop further removal of public health data.
Since January, the U.S. government has deleted numerous websites “that physicians, nurses, scientists, public health professionals and others rely upon, removing data on a wide range of topics including pregnancy risks, opioid-use disorder, the AIDS epidemic, and more,” the group said in a release on May 20.
The deletions were tied to executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20. One was titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” and the other was “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.”
According to a list provided in the release, the two orders led to deleted material from the following:
▪ National Institute of Health’s HIV Risk Reduction Tool
▪ Information related to National Immunization Awareness Month
▪ Health Resources and Services Administration FAQs for Mpox treatment
▪ HRSA information about opioid use among women
▪ Various resources on health issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community
▪ Guidance to integrate diversity and inclusion in work related to mental-health assistance for the homeless
▪ Training modules from NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health
▪ Information related to transgender behavioral-health disparities
▪ Health and Human Services’ reading list titled “Advancing Better Health Through Better Understanding for Black and African American Communities: Health Literacy, Health Care Access, and Culturally Appropriate Care”
▪ HHS’s website dedicated to reproductive rights.
Attorneys for the medical groups wrote in the complaint that “Defendants implemented these executive orders in a haphazard manner that resulted in the deletion (advertent or otherwise) of health-related websites and databases … ”
They added that “Ultimately, the effort to preserve the purged data was just marginally successful: Only large institutions with significant resources can host such massive datasets, and some datasets disappeared completely before they could be archived.”
The lawsuit contends that banners on some pages that were brought back online by the government as per an earlier court order undercut the data listed, with disclaimers that any information promoting gender ideology “does not reflect biological reality and therefore the administration and department rejects it.”
Other banners simply stated a particular website was being modified per executive orders. The News Tribune in February reported on the banners showing up on various government medical sites.
At the time, a representative for the state Department of Health told The News Tribune that DOH was “working to download and archive critical data that may be at risk, but the loss of public access would make ongoing public health monitoring more challenging.”
“These executive-ordered website deletions were driven by ideology, not by science or evidence,” said John Bramhall, MD, PhD, president of the Washington State Medical Association, in a statement on May 20. “In an instant, trusted health information vanished — resources that physicians, other clinicians, and clinics relied on to manage patients’ health conditions and overall care.”
“Nurses strive to provide evidence-based care. That means care that is driven by current data—but we can’t do that if the data is unavailable,” said Justin Gill, DNP, APRN, RN, President of the Washington State Nurses Association.
Beth Ebel, MD, MPH, president of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is also a party to the lawsuit.
“Our members have been startled to discover that critical travel advice to protect children and adolescents from infections has been removed, including guidance on highly effective medications and vaccinations,” Ebel said in the release. “Early alert data identifying new injury and poison risks have been impacted. …”
“We can’t afford to stand on the sidelines while the foundation of evidence-based research — open, public data — is quietly dismantled,” said Aaron Carroll, MD, president and CEO of the nonprofit AcademyHealth, another party in the lawsuit.
WSMA represents nearly 13,000 physicians, resident physicians, physician assistants and medical students in Washington state; WSNA is a professional organization and labor union representing more than 20,000 registered nurses in the state; WCAAP represents over 1,200 pediatric health care professionals across the state.
Other plaintiffs in the suit include Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society.
Lead defendant in the case is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his capacity as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Other defendants include leading officials from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management as well as the individual departments.
There was no official response yet to the lawsuit from federal officials on May 20.
Update Sept. 2, 2025: Defendants in the case agreed to restore webpages and data that were deleted and have not already been restored in a settlement with the plaintiffs, according to a statement from the Washington State Medical Association.
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 11:55 AM.
