SacBee: Trump shut down public health communications & funding. ‘Unprecedented and unacceptable’
By Andrew Sheeler
PADILLA, SCHIFF DEMAND THAT TRUMP END PUBLIC HEALTH COMMUNICATION AND FUNDING FREEZE
Nearly three dozen U.S. senators, including both members of California’s Senate delegation, last week signed a letter to Acting Health and Human Services Secretary Dorothy Fink, demanding an explanation for, and an end to, President Donald Trump’s freeze on external public health communications and funding.
Two days after Trump took office — Jan. 22 — he ordered all 13 agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) umbrella — including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — to cease all public communications and grant disbursements until Feb. 1.
It’s now Feb. 10, and it’s still crickets from HHS.
“With the administration’s own deadline having passed, it remains unclear when these restrictions will be lifted. While limited exceptions exist for critical health, safety, or national security concerns, the freeze has already severely impeded essential public health and biomedical research functions,” the letter signed by 34 Democratic Senators, including Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, read.
This radio silence on public health is having major ramifications. The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)— the epidemiological gold standard — was prevented from being published for the first time in 60 years, even as the H5N1 bird flu outbreak continues to spread.
“The MMWR often includes clinical recommendations for doctors, such as guidance on how to treat diseases that are currently circulating in the United States – and delaying the MMWR means that doctors may not have all the latest information they need to keep their patients healthy,” the letter notes.
The funding freeze has resulted in the delay of clinical trials at the NIH.
“This uncertainty has placed billions in federal research funds in limbo, directly threatening ongoing medical studies and academic research programs,” the letter reads.
The senators condemned the freeze as “unprecedented and unacceptable.”
“While it is not unusual for a new administration to conduct brief reviews of existing programs, no past transition has implemented a blanket freeze of this magnitude,” they wrote. The Bee sent a media inquiry to HHS about this letter. No response was received by deadline.
Read the full article here.