WASHINGTON- As the United States battles a historic drug overdose crisis, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been tracking deaths and making statistics available to the public. However, several news agencies are reporting that the Trump administration has directed federal health agencies, including the CDC, to pause external communications. This directive affects the release of regular scientific reports, updates to websites, and health advisories.
According to the Associated Press (AP), acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dorothy Fink, issued a memo stating the communication pause will remain in effect until February 1.
Dr. Ali Khan, a former CDC outbreak investigator, told the AP that while a brief pause during a transition in executive leadership is common, it raises concerns.
“The only concern would be is if this is a prelude to going back to a prior approach of silencing the agencies around a political narrative,” Khan said.
During Trump’s first term, his administration faced criticism for attempts by political appointees to influence the CDC’s MMWR journal, which published COVID-19 data that sometimes contradicted White House messaging.