Attorney General Jones Joins Coalition Standing Up to Trump Administration Attacks on Professional Medical Organizations

Richmond, VA - Attorney General Jay Jones joined a coalition of 19 state attorneys general in support of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which is being targeted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the Trump administration’s continued assault on science and widely accepted public health policies and practices.

The coalition filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit filed by AAP challenging the FTC’s improperly motivated demands that the organization turn over extensive information regarding AAP’s deliberative processes, personnel, internal and external communications, political advocacy, educational programs, finances and more. The AAP is 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 healthcare.

“Continuing in its chaotic and unlawful overreach, the Trump Administration is again putting its own political agenda above the health and safety of Virginia’s families,” Attorney General Jones said. “Virginia agencies and organizations rely on the evidence-based research long provided by the AAP to issue health and safety guidance to Virginians and their healthcare providers. This politically motivated move puts the federal government at odds with scientific research and instead puts real Virginians who need and deserve it at risk of losing access to life-saving healthcare. We cannot and will not allow Donald Trump to continue to undermine professional guidance to politicize our children and our healthcare. My office will use every tool at our disposal to stop this federal overreach and keep Virginians safe.”

In their brief, Attorney General Jones and the attorneys general note that states have a critical role and responsibility in ensuring that all people, including children and youth, have access to the highest quality and safest healthcare. To ensure that state public health policies and medical policies are driven by the latest developments and consensus among the medical and scientific community, Virginia looks to the policies and recommendations of pediatric healthcare experts, such as the AAP. The AAP guidelines ensure that the delivery of healthcare is safe, individualized, and centered around the patient. Agencies across the Commonwealth consider AAP guidance to help shape state policies to prevent and treat a range of childhood illnesses and medical conditions. States must be able to rely on the quality and accuracy of this guidance, which would be compromised by politically driven interference by the federal government.

The attorneys general also assert in their brief that the targeting of the AAP 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 also often issues guidance that conflicts with such recommendations on issues ranging from what amounts to a healthy diet and nutrition to whether pregnant women can safely take medicines like Tylenol.

The coalition is urging the court to grant AAP a preliminary injunction to stop the FTC’s investigative demands for information.

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

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