The US department of health and human services (HHS) has terminated several multi-million dollar grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics following the association’s criticism of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s policies.
The funding cuts, which affect projects focused on issues including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and early detection of autism, were first reported by the Washington Post and were made without prior notice to the AAP.
In a statement to the Guardian, AAP CEO Mark Del Monte said: “AAP learned this week that seven grants to AAP under the US Department of Health and Human Services are being terminated.
“This vital work spans many child health priorities, including reducing sudden infant death, rural access to health care, mental health, adolescent health, supporting children with birth defects, early identification of autism, and prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, among other topics.”
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Del Monte added: “The sudden withdrawal of these funds will directly impact and potentially harm infants, children, youth, and their families in communities across the United States. AAP is exploring all available options, including legal recourse, in response to these actions.”
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told the Washington Post that the grants were terminated because they no longer align with departmental priorities. The Guardian has contacted HHS for comment.
HHS ended the funding after noting that AAP materials used what the department characterized as “identity-based language,” including references to racial disparities and the term “pregnant people,” according to administration officials cited by the Washington Post.
One letter terminating a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on birth defects and infant disorders pointed to language in grant materials that “is not aligned with current CDC and HHS priorities,” the document reported.
“These elements are not incidental; they are woven through the title, narrative and work plans of your organization’s grant project and define the objective framework of your organization’s project,” Jamie Legier, director of CDC’s office of grant services., He reportedly wrote in the letter.
“As such, the activities of your organization under [award number] are no longer in line with HHS and CDC’s stated priority areas.”
Earlier this year, Kennedy criticized the AAP for issuing its own Covid-19 vaccine recommendations that differed from the federal guidance it had established. Kennedy announced that the Covid-19 vaccine will no longer be included in the vaccinations recommended by the CDC for healthy children and pregnant women, which violates long-standing medical guidance.
In response, AAP president Susan J Kressly said in June: “We will not lend our name or expertise to a system that is being politicized at the expense of children’s health.”
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Following the AAP’s release of its own vaccine recommendations, Kennedy on Twitter/X questioned whether the AAP’s recommendations “reflect the public health interest, or are, perhaps, just a pay-to-play scheme to promote the commercial ambitions of the AAP’s Big Pharma benefactors”.
The AAP, along with other major medical associations, has since filed a lawsuit against HHS to challenge Kennedy’s vaccine changes.
In an amicus brief filed by Defend Public Health – a network of health workers and researchers – in support of the lawsuit, the group also criticized Kennedy’s changes in Covid-19 vaccination policies.
DPH argued that the decision would have far-reaching consequences, stating: “First, this reduction immediately introduced significant uncertainty and complexity into the process of administering COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacy settings … Second, pregnant patients and children – populations at greater risk from many infectious diseases – are the most affected by these disruptions, reducing the health care workforce …