Key Takeaways
Two Harvard doctors say their research was removed from a federal website
The lawsuit claims the removal violated their First Amendment rights
The government allegedly pulled the studies for mentioning LGBTQ terms
FRIDAY, March 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Two Harvard medical school professors are suing the Trump administration, arguing that their research was unfairly removed from a government-run website.
Their studies, focused on improving patient safety and reducing medical errors, were suddenly removed allegedly because they included terms like “LGBTQ” and “transgender.”
The doctors say this move not only violates their First Amendment rights but also puts patient lives at risk, NBC News reported.
Harvard faculty members and said their peer-reviewed studies were taken down from the Patient Safety Network website, which is operated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Their lawsuit — backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic — argues that the removal is both unlawful and dangerous.
The lawsuit notes that misdiagnoses lead to death or permanent disability for about 795,000 Americans each year. The professors say their research was focused on improving medical diagnoses and patient safety.
“Allowing the government to censor research regarding patient safety for political reasons will almost assuredly increase that number,” the suit says.
One of the removed studies addressed suicide risk and mentioned LGBTQ patients, while another included the word "transgender" and covered endometriosis (a disease in which uterine tissue grows outside a woman's uterus).
, an attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts, called the removal of these studies a serious constitutional violation.
“It is a fundamental principle of the First Amendment that the government cannot restrict speech just because it disagrees with the viewpoint of that speech,” Davidson said. “We think that is especially important in areas of scientific inquiry and debate and research.”
The lawsuit names the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and AHRQ as defendants.
It claims the removals were made due to an executive order on gender ideology signed by President Donald Trump on January 20. It recognizes male and female as the only two sexes.
Schiff and Royce said they will not censor their medical conclusions and are pursuing legal action to protect the integrity of medical research and patient safety.
More information
Constitution Annotated has more on the .
SOURCE: NBC News, March 13, 2025
What This Means For You
Medical experts say censoring research could harm patient safety.