Pediatricians sue Trump administration to halt a nearly $12 million cut in federal grants
By Tami Luhby, Jacqueline Howard, CNN
(CNN) — A leading pediatrics group is asking a federal judge to stop the Trump administration from terminating nearly $12 million in long-running federal grants.
The American Academy of Pediatrics argues that the US Department of Health and Human Services last week ended seven grants in retaliation for the academy speaking out against the administration’s actions that the group feels threaten children’s health, including advocating for evidence-based vaccine policy. The Academy’s efforts have been “met with targeted smears from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other senior officials looking to discredit one of the agency’s most prominent critics,” according to the complaint, which was filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The suit is asking the court to immediately block the funding cuts and require that the grants be reinstated while the case proceeds.
“In this suit, AAP challenges HHS’s retaliatory actions, which not only irreparably harm AAP, but undermine the health and safety of all Americans by senselessly slashing programs that help pediatricians detect, prevent, and mange fatal and debilitating illnesses and conditions,” according to the complaint.
The funding is used for “training and technical assistance to pediatricians in rural communities, the reduction of sudden unexpected infant death, the prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and universal newborn hearing screenings,” the complaint said.
“Without immediate court intervention, these programs will end within weeks, staff will be laid off and children and families nationwide will lose access to crucial child health programs,” the Academy said in a statement Wednesday.
The Academy has 67,000 members, including primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists. Democracy Forward, which has filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration this year, is representing the Academy in this case.
An HHS spokesperson told CNN last week that the grants awarded to the Academy and several other organizations were canceled “because they no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.”
The AAP and Kennedy have been in conflict – and litigation – over certain public health policies, including those related to childhood vaccinations.
Earlier this year, the AAP took the rare step of breaking with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its recommendation that the Covid-19 vaccine for children should be “based on shared clinical decision-making.” The AAP recommendations were more explicit, saying that all children 6 months through 23 months should receive a Covid-19 vaccine unless they have known allergies to the vaccine or its ingredients.
The AAP also criticized the CDC last week for adopting its vaccine advisers’ decision to no longer recommend the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.
A coalition of medical groups led by the AAP argued in federal court last week that recent changes to recommendations by the CDC’s vaccine advisers and certain actions by Kennedy violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
The hearing, in US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, focused on the government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit that the AAP filed against Kennedy, claiming that the Administrative Procedure Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act were violated when changes to immunization schedules were made, and whether the plaintiffs have standing to bring suit.
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