The American Academy of Family Physicians responded to the Administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directive in a December 16 statement attributed to AAFP President Michael Munger, MD. According to a news story in The Washington Post., the Trump administration ordered the CDC to not use the terms “evidence-based,” “science-based,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “vulnerable,” “diversity” or “entitlement” in documents for next year’s budget. The AAFP issued its response that reads as follows:
“The AAFP, which represents 129,000 family physicians and medical students, is both surprised and concerned by the Administration’s clear disregard for the importance of science and evidence-based medicine.
“Recent public reports indicate that the Administration has shackled the CDC with inexplicable rules banning certain terms from the agency’s budget requests. This action is an obvious attempt to politicize the most fundamental tenets of medicine and research, which will have a chilling effect on the CDC’s ability to rely on science to justify the work it does to protect public health.
“While we at the AAFP represent family physicians, our highest priority is improving the health of patients, families, and communities. When the top public health agency in the country is — in an unprecedented move by the Administration — required to temper its reliance on evidence-based medicine, the health of the public is at risk. We urge the Administration to fully assess the broader implications of this purely political maneuver and reconsider its recent directive to the CDC.”