Press Release  AG Campbell Leads Multistate Opposition To Trump Administration’s Attacks On Independent Professional Medical Organizations

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led a coalition of attorneys general in filing amicus briefs in support of the Endocrine Society (ES) and World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which are being targeted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over recommendations that run counter to the Trump Administration’s preferred policies.

The coalition filed amicus briefs in support of lawsuits filed by ES and WPATH challenging the FTC’s improperly motivated demands that the organizations turn over extensive information regarding their deliberative processes, personnel, internal and external communications, political advocacy, educational programs, finances and more. Both ES and WPATH are seeking a court order to block the FTC’s Civil Investigative Demand for this information, which the FTC seeks to further the Administration’s political agenda, rather than to ensure the wide availability of safe health care. 

“The Trump Administration’s attempt to bully independent organizations into abandoning scientific facts to fuel its own political agenda threatens the health and safety of our residents. Politics should have no place in our hospitals and doctors’ offices,” said AG Campbell. “States rely on the critical recommendations of professional medical organizations to guide policymaking and ensure our residents receive the best possible care, and I will continue to defend them from the federal government’s cruel and improper demands.”

In their briefs, AG Campbell and the attorneys general note that states have long been recognized as the regulators of health care and play a unique and critical role in ensuring that all people, including children and youth, have access to the highest quality and safest care. To ensure that state public health policies and medical policies are driven by the latest developments and consensus among the medical and scientific community, states look to the policies and recommendations of health care experts, such as ES and WPATH, for guidance and trusted information. States must be able to rely on the quality and accuracy of these professional organizations’ guidance, which would be compromised by the federal government’s politically driven interference. 

The attorneys general argue that the targeting of ES and WPATH is part of a pattern by the Trump Administration of disagreeing with widely held public health and medical recommendations of respected medical professionals and public health officials. The Administration often issues guidance that conflicts with recommendations on many different medical issues, ranging from childhood vaccines to whether pregnant women can safely take medicines like Tylenol. 

On March 10, AG Campbell joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a similar amicus brief supporting the American Academy of Pediatrics in their lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s illegal data demands.

The coalition is urging the court to grant ES and WPATH preliminary injunctions to stop the FTC’s investigative demands for information. 

Joining AG Campbell in filing the ES brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Joining AG Campbell in filing the WPATH brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.  

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