The US government has been ordered to restore dozens of webpages on gender identity and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as part of a court settlement.

District Court judge Lauren King ordered the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to restore hundreds of webpages removed from government sites under orders from president Donald Trump.

Nine medical organisations and public health nonprofits sued the US government after Trump issued an executive order in January directing the health department to remove pages containing vital information and data on gender identity, HIV prevention, and health advice for marginalised groups.

Affected websites included the National Institute of Health’s HIV risk reduction tool, an FAQ page on Mpox treatment and hundreds of sites on health issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community.

As part of an agreed settlement finalised on Tuesday (2 September), the government must restore the data and cease the deletion of further resources.

The Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), Washington state’s largest medical association and lead plaintiff in the case, said it was “thrilled” at the settlement result.

It is expected to restore webpages on pregnancy risk, opioid-use disorder, HIV data, and much more.

Dr John Bramhall, WSMA president, said following the judgement that he was “extremely proud” of the healthcare community for “pushing back on this egregious example of government overreach.”

“This was not a partisan issue,” he continued. “Open data benefits everyone, and ensuring its availability should be a bipartisan priority.”

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Co-plaintiffs include Washington State Nurses Association, the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Paediatrics, AcademyHealth, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society.

Vital health and DEI webpages vanished ‘in the blink of an eye’

The organisation, which represents more than 13,000 physicians, emphasised the importance of readily available health data and information for the general public on all topics.

Condemning the sudden removal of “trusted health information,” Dr Bramhall said many resources which physicians rely on to monitor a patient’s health “vanished in [the] blink of an eye.”

“Not only was our ability to provide care to our patients compromised, but our trust in our federal health institutions has also been badly shaken,” he continued. “The WSMA engaged in this legal effort to resist interference into the physician-patient relationship and to show patients and communities that, regardless of the whims of governments or politics, physicians are committed to providing accurate, evidence-based care.”

A spokesperson for HHS said to Fox News Digital it remains “committed to its mission of removing radical gender and DEI ideology from federal programs, subject to applicable law, to ensure taxpayer dollars deliver meaningful results for the American people.”

The settlement comes as health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was grilled in a Senate hearing over his vaccine policies and notorious views on public health.

The 71-year-old, who is infamous for his conspiratorial scepticism on vaccines, was accused of a “reckless disregard for science” during the Thursday (4 September) hearing after firing the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head over his vaccine policies.

Democratic senator Ron Wyden, who sat on the committee, accused Kennedy of trying to “[take] vaccines away from Americans,” adding: “I hope at the very least, Robert Kennedy has the decency to tell the truth this morning.”

Justifying the CDC firings, Kennedy said they were “absolutely necessary,” called the US the “sickest country in the world,” and claimed “that’s why we need to fire people at the CDC.”