Doctors for America v. Office of Personnel Management, et al.

Represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Doctors for America filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food And Drug Administration (FDA), and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), for removing a broad range of health-related data and other information used by health professionals and researchers from publicly accessible government websites. As the complaint explains, the removal of key webpages and datasets creates a dangerous gap in the scientific data available to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, deprives physicians of resources that guide clinical practice, and takes away key resources for communicating and engaging with patients. The complaint states claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, based on the failure to provide adequate notice before removal of these webpages and datasets, and because removing health information of vital importance to health professionals and their patients is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law.

On February 6, we moved for a temporary restraining order requiring the agencies to restore this vitally important information to their websites. On February 11, the judge granted the motion and ordered the agencies to restore the webpages and datasets while the litigation proceeds.