Pediatrics group sues HHS for chopping funds for well being packages

By LAURA UNGAR, AP Medical Author

The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers on Wednesday, in search of to dam almost $12 million in cuts to the group.

Earlier this month, the federal authorities “abruptly terminated” grants to the group, the lawsuit says.

The funding supported quite a few public well being packages, together with efforts to stop sudden surprising toddler demise, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and assist teenagers dealing with substance use and psychological well being challenges.

“AAP doesn’t produce other sources of grant funding to interchange the federal awards, and with out the required funds it should instantly terminate its work on its dozens of packages that save youngsters’s lives every single day,” says the lawsuit, filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Columbia. “Inside a number of weeks, AAP must start shedding workers devoted to this critically vital work.”

The swimsuit alleges HHS made the cuts in retaliation for the medical doctors’ group talking out in opposition to the Trump administration’s positions and actions.

The medical doctors’ group has been vocal about its assist for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed HHS positions. Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine motion for years — is in search of to broadly remake federal insurance policies on vaccines. Earlier this 12 months, the pediatrics group launched its personal suggestions on COVID-19 vaccines, which considerably diverged from the federal government’s suggestions.

The group additionally helps entry to gender-affirming care and has publicly criticized HHS positions on the subject, saying it opposes what it calls the federal government’s infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.

“The Division of Well being and Human Providers is utilizing federal funding as a political weapon to punish protected speech, making an attempt to silence one of many nation’s most trusted voices for youngsters’s well-being by chopping off important public-health funding in retaliation for talking the reality,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Ahead, stated in a press release. Perryman’s group is representing the medical doctors’ group within the case.

A spokesman for HHS couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.