You may have missed this story in the pre-Christmas rush, but the Washington Post (WaPo) published two stories in mid-December about the Trump administration telling divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services that they should avoid using certain words or phrases in official documents being drafted for next year’s budget.
This story could just as easily have been titled “Are you kidding me?” because the banned words include “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” Consequently, a scientific health body such as the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is not permitted to describe any of its budget proposals as “evidence-based“.
Words banned at multiple HHS agencies include ‘diversity’ and ‘vulnerable’
CDC gets list of forbidden words: Fetus, transgender, diversity
According to the WaPo story “instead of “science-based” or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” … “In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.”
Looks like there is a ‘policy disease’ in the US to which the CDC may need to apply suitable control measures.
