5 Ongoing Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration Regarding Health Care

Amid the policy flux of the first 100 days of the Trump administration, numerous executive orders have been signed and policies instituted that could have immediate impacts on not only National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding but also the future of research in the country. These efforts have primarily come against health programs focused on any topic that the administration believes to be focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Numerous lawsuits have come in the wake of these decisions, some of which have been resolved and others that are still ongoing. These are 5 of the most prominent lawsuits that have been filed relating to health care since the Trump administration assumed leadership.

1. Commonwealth of Massachusetts v US Department of Health and Human Services

Attorneys general in Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin filed a lawsuit on April 4 challenging the cutting of funding for medical research that started in March. The lawsuit challenges the revocation of the funds as well as the move to freeze grant approvals from the NIH, which is the largest public funder of research in the world. According to the office of the New York State Attorney General, the research that lost its funding included projects focused on vaccine hesitancy, DEI, and health in LGBTQ+ individuals.¹ This has equaled approximately $4.5 million in research funding for the State University of New York alone.

The lawsuit argues that these cuts are illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act due to the lack of justification for the spending cuts as well as also going against the directives of the NIH to include more research on LGBTQ+ health. The suit is ongoing.

2. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition v US Department of State

The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) and the Journalism Development Network had filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on February 12 seeking to resume funding for foreign assistance in combatting the HIV epidemic that had been stopped by the US.² The plaintiffs argued that the executive order that had halted all foreign aid violated the Take Care Clause of the Constitution. The original temporary restraining order was granted on February 13 but had not been upheld by February 18. Through a series of new filings from the plaintiffs and appeals from the federal government, the Supreme Court decided that the matter should be decided in the district court, which had found that the government was required to carry out the funding that Congress had appropriated. However, the district court judge also declared that the judicial system had no authority to reinstate grants that were terminated. An appeal has been filed by the Trump administration on the decision that declared that the government must pay $2 billion in foreign assistance. That suit is still ongoing.

Several lawsuits are still ongoing and could affect research and accessibility of information in health care | Image credit: BillionPhotos.com - stock.adobe.com

3. American Public Health Association v National Institutes of Health

Similar to the recent lawsuit from the attorneys general of several states, this lawsuit was filed on April 2 by a group of leading health research organizations—the American Public Health Association and Ibis Reproductive Health—to stop further cancellations of research grants that were terminated by the NIH.³ The plaintiffs allege that their own grants, totaling millions of dollars in funding, were all terminated before the conclusion of their work. More than 900 grants have been cancelled throughout the country, including research that has to do with gender identity, sexual violence, and the effect of over-the counter access to pre-exposure prophylaxis. The lawsuit aims to acquire a preliminary injunction that would stop any other grants from being canceled.

4. State of Colorado v US Department of Health and Human Services

Attorneys general and other state officials from 23 states filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island on April 1 aiming to overturn the decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds for health initiatives across the country.⁴ These initiatives included funding efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, and addiction. These funds, allocated by Congress for this purpose in the last budget passed in 2024, could help in addressing other viruses spreading through states, including the recent measles outbreak. California estimates that these cuts could affect $1 billion of their budget and North Carolina estimates it will affect $230 million of theirs. This lawsuit is still ongoing.

5. Doctors for America v Office of Personnel Management

Doctors for America sued the Office of Personnel Management and other federal health agencies on February 4 with the intention of reinstating health information that was removed from federal websites.⁵ This included removing data related to health from all of the HHS, CDC, and FDA websites that was deemed to be in line with the executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The plaintiffs argued that this violated the Administrative Procedure Act, as it was arbitrary, and the Paperwork Reduction Act, as it did not comply with notice requirements. A temporary restraining order was granted on February 11 that required the information to be restored to the websites. The government has since filed a motion to oppose the junction. The suit is still ongoing.

These represent 5 of several cases that are ongoing in response to executive action taken by the Trump administration. With the evolving nature of most of these lawsuits, the final outcomes could determine the fates of research, outreach, and data relating to health.

References

1. Attorney General James sues Trump administration for illegally cutting funding for medical research. News release. Office of the New York State Attorney General; April 4, 2025. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-sues-trump-administration-illegally-cutting-funding
2. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network v. U.S. Department of State. Public Citizen. Updated March 11, 2025. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://www.citizen.org/litigation/aids-vaccine-advocacy-coalition-and-journalism-development-network-v-u-s-department-of-state/
3. Kekatos M. Scientists sue NIH, HHS, RFK Jr. over termination of research grants. ABC News. April 4, 2025. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/scientists-sue-nih-hhs-rfk-jr-termination-research/
4. Bose D, Whitehurst L. States sue Trump administration for rescinding billions in health funding. AP News. April 1, 2025. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/trump-covid-federal-money-lawsuit-e2fcacccfda994500ce92be94d1ada7d
5. Doctors for America v. Office of Personnel Management (1:25-cv-00322). Court Listener. Updated April 8, 2025. Accessed April 9, 2025. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69608613/doctors-for-america-v-office-of-personnel-management/