The federal government abruptly cut nearly $12 million in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics in retaliation for criticizing policies of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the organization alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The organization, in a suit filed against the Department of Health and Human Services, asks a D.C. federal court to block the cuts to seven grants.
Mark Del Monte, the organization’s chief executive officer, said in a statement the grants fund programs that screen the hearing of newborns and educate new parents on safe sleeping to prevent unexpected infant deaths, among other programs.
“We are forced to take legal action today so that these programs can continue to make communities safer and healthier,” Del Monte said.
The lawsuit was filed more than a week after The Post revealed that the agency terminated the grants, claiming the organization’s use of “identity-based language” ran afoul of the Trump administration’s priorities, among other reasons. The suit names Kennedy, two HHS officials and two of its agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration.
HHS on Wednesday declined to comment. Last week, an agency spokesman said the grants were canceled because they “no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.”
The pediatrics organization has emerged as a sharp critic of Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic and founder of a prominent anti-vaccine group. Kennedy has said he is not “anti-vaccine,” but since taking over the health department, he has reshaped the nation’s immunization policies by firing the CDC’s independent vaccine advisory panel and replacing them with allies, many of whom earlier criticizedU.S. vaccine guidance. The association has joined other medical organizations in suing Kennedy and HHS,seeking to disband Kennedy’s vaccine advisory panel.
The organization has also criticized HHS policies on gender transition care for young people.
The lawsuit notes that Kennedy accused the group of malpractice and betraying its oath to do no harm because of its “position on access to gender-affirming medical care.” In regard to vaccines, Kennedy said the organization is engaged in a “pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions” of Big Pharma “benefactors.” One HHS adviser called the association a “demonic force” and said it is “committing war on kids,” while vaccine advisers have repeatedly criticized the group, the suit alleges.
“While these politicized attacks are inaccurate on their own terms, the terminated awards at issue here largely have nothing to do with these high-profile health policy issues,” according to the lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward, a left-leaning legal group that is challenging multiple Trump administration measures.
The pediatrics association, in its lawsuit, points out that the Trump administration had approved funding for the same programs just months earlier, and other grant recipients under the same programs did not have their funding terminated.
The CDC cited “identity-based language” in terminating one grant on birth defects and infant disorders, according to a letter reviewed by The Post. It highlighted language in the association’s application and award documents, including a reference to “the health of pregnant and postpartum people,” a statement that “disparities caused by racism and poverty are only exacerbated during emergencies” and a commitment to incorporating “diverse perspectives into clinical care and public health materials.”
The lawsuit alleges HHS violated the organization’s First Amendment right to free speech, equal protections under the Fifth Amendment, the spending clause of the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. Without the grants, the association will have to lay off employees within weeks, the lawsuit said.
The post National pediatrics association sues, claiming HHS grant cuts were retaliatory appeared first on Washington Post.
