Health groups urge RFK Jr. to reinstate injury center staff

Lia DeGroot, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 14, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — A group of more than 40 organizations is urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reinstate staff who were purged at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

In a letter sent to Kennedy on Friday, first shared with CQ Roll Call, the groups voice concerns that purging the center’s staff will impact the administration’s ability to carry out injury and domestic violence prevention programs.

The letter was signed by a host of domestic violence prevention and health groups, including the Action Alliance, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.

Among the sweeping staff cuts across HHS that the Trump administration carried out last week were layoffs at a small center within the CDC that studies injuries, including those related to firearms, domestic violence and traumatic brain injuries.

“The loss of more than 200 public health officials in one of the smallest centers at CDC will undoubtedly have a significant negative impact on its ability to continue the administration of injury and violence prevention programs within its jurisdiction,” the organizations wrote.

The groups wrote that they’re particularly concerned about how the cuts to the program will affect data systems and surveillance programs that the center conducted.

“No other federal agency collects, analyzes and links hospital and public health data sets to help illustrate a comprehensive picture of the circumstances that lead to injury and violence,” the wrote. “State, local, municipal governments and universities rely on these data to inform the design and implementation of targeted injury and violence prevention efforts.”