Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

The trusted source for

healthcare information and

CONTINUING EDUCATION.

  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • MyAHC
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • My Subscription
      • Subscribe Now
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    Home » Blogs » HICprevent » Update: CDC Denies Word Ban

    HICprevent
    HICprevent RSS FeedRSS

    HIC Prevent

    This award-winning blog supplements the articles in Hospital Infection Control & Prevention.

    Update: CDC Denies Word Ban

    Update: CDC Denies Word Ban
    December 18, 2017
    Reprints
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin Share Share

    By Gary Evans, Medical Writer

     

    In response to medical groups highly critical of a reported "word ban" at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the agency, issued a statement Dec. 20 that read in part:
    "There are no banned, prohibited or forbidden words at the CDC—period.  I want to emphasize to anyone who may believe otherwise that we continue to encourage open dialogue about all of the important public health work we do.  CDC has a long-standing history of making public health and budget decisions that are based on the best available science and data that benefits all Americans—and we will continue to do so. I understand that confusion arose from a staff-level discussion at a routine meeting about how to present CDC’s budget. It was never intended as overall guidance for how we describe and conduct CDC’s work."

    Reports of an Orwellian censorship of words and terms at the CDC prompted a strong protest by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and other medical groups.

    “We are deeply concerned about reports that budget documents submitted to Congress from the CDC may be censored for certain terms that include ‘science-‘ and ‘evidence-based,’ ‘transgender,’ ‘diversity,’ ‘entitlement,’ ‘vulnerable,’ and ‘fetus,’” said a statement issued by the IDSA, the HIV Medicine Association and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. “We find this unacceptable and disturbing. We strongly urge elected officials to prohibit any form of censorship that interferes with accurate communications by CDC, other Department of Health and Human Services agencies, and other federal agencies.”

    An objective and neutral foundation of medical language is essential to establish patient trust in the healthcare system, the IDSA noted.

    “Suppression of language in budget documents suggests further intent--thwarting a federal agency from requesting funding for public health initiatives based on sound science, yet controversial in the political arena,” the medical groups stated. “When ideology, fear, and ignorance dominate discourse in the public health arena, consequences are deadly. More than three decades ago when HIV first appeared in the U.S., the federal government’s unwillingness to acknowledge the epidemic and to allocate resources allowed the HIV epidemic to expand further and faster. These early, federal inactions were not based on science but rather grounded in ideology and politics. Timely intervention could have saved many thousands of lives.”

     

    Shop Now: Search Products

    • Subscription Publications
    • Books & Study Guides
    • Webinars
    • Group & Site
      Licenses
    • State CME/CE
      Requirements

    Webinars And Events

    View All Events
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • My Subscription
      • Subscribe Now
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    • Help
    • Search
    • About Us
    • Sign In
    • Register
    Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

    The trusted source for

    healthcare information and

    CONTINUING EDUCATION.

    Customer Service

    customerservice@reliasmedia.com

    U.S. and Canada: 1-800-688-2421 x 2

    International +1-404-262-5476 x 2

    Accounts Receivable

    1-800-688-2421 x 3
    ReliasMedia_AR@reliasmedia.com

    Sales

    1-800-688-2421 x 1

    Mailing Address

    • 1010 Sync St., Suite 100
      Morrisville, NC 27560-5468
      USA

    © 2022 Relias. All rights reserved.

    Do Not Sell My Personal Information  Privacy Policy  Terms of Use  Contact Us  Reprints  Group Sales

    For DSR inquiries or complaints, please reach out to Wes Vaux, Data Privacy Officer, DPO@relias.com

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing