{"id":469805,"date":"2025-12-25T01:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T01:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/469805\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T01:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T01:00:14","slug":"pediatrics-group-sues-hhs-for-cutting-funds-for-childrens-health-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/469805\/","title":{"rendered":"Pediatrics group sues HHS for cutting funds for children’s health programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a> sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, seeking to block nearly $12 million in cuts to the group.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the federal government \u201cabruptly terminated\u201d grants to the group, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

The funding supported numerous public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and support teens facing substance use and mental health challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cAAP does not have other sources of grant funding to replace the federal awards, and without the necessary funds it must immediately terminate its work on its dozens of programs that save children\u2019s lives every day,\u201d says the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. \u201cWithin a few weeks, AAP will have to begin laying off employees dedicated to this critically important work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suit alleges HHS made the cuts in retaliation for the doctors\u2019 group speaking out against the Trump administration\u2019s positions and actions. <\/p>\n

The doctors\u2019 group has been vocal about its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed HHS positions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. \u2014 who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years \u2014 is seeking<\/a> to broadly remake federal policies on vaccines. Earlier this year, the pediatrics group released its own<\/a> recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines, which substantially diverged from the government\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n

The group also supports access to gender-affirming care<\/a> and has publicly criticized HHS positions on the topic, saying it opposes what it calls the government\u2019s infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Health and Human Services is using federal funding as a political weapon to punish protected speech, trying to silence one of the nation\u2019s most trusted voices for children\u2019s well-being by cutting off critical public-health funding in retaliation for speaking the truth,\u201d Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. Perryman\u2019s organization is representing the doctors\u2019 group in the case.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for HHS could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Mark Del Monte, CEO and executive vice president of the 67,000-member doctors\u2019 group, said the organization depends on its relationship with the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need this partnership to advance policies that prioritize children\u2019s health. These vital child health programs fund services like hearing screenings for newborns and safe sleep campaigns to prevent sudden unexpected infant death,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cWe are forced to take legal action today so that these programs can continue to make communities safer and healthier.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, seeking to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":469806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[36786,245,84,69,57,330,210,1141,1142,362,1060,517,80,881,15010,3981,26146,61,67,370,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-469805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-american-academy-of-pediatrics","9":"tag-children","10":"tag-district-of-columbia","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-government-programs","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-health-care","16":"tag-healthcare","17":"tag-legal-proceedings","18":"tag-medication","19":"tag-mental-health","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-public-health","22":"tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","23":"tag-teens","24":"tag-u-s-department-of-health-and-human-services","25":"tag-u-s-news","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-united-states-government","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}