A federal judge appointed by a Republican president has issued a strong rebuke to officials from the Trump administration and **mandated them to promptly restore public health websites** that were abruptly taken down.

The lawsuit, initiated by the physician organization Doctors for America, contests the removal of websites overseen by the **Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).** The organization claims that the elimination of these sites hampers doctors’ ability to deliver adequate care to their patients.

U.S. District Judge **John Bates**, appointed by **George W. Bush**, favored the physicians in this case. On **Tuesday, February 11**, he determined that the government must reinstate the pages by the end of the day.

### **What Led to the Websites Being Taken Down?**
The deleted web pages offered information regarding **HIV treatment, contraceptive medications, and student health.** Doctors for America filed a lawsuit against the **Office for Personnel Management, HHS, CDC, and FDA**, contending that the loss of these resources generates confusion and squanders valuable time that could be devoted to patient care.

### **Ruling from Judge Bates**
Judge Bates criticized the government’s actions, asserting that the removal of these websites was executed **”without any public rationale, recourse, or ability to challenge the decisions,”** as reported by Politico.

### **Government’s Defense Does Not Hold Up**
Attorneys from the Justice Department supported their actions, arguing that doctors could still retrieve the removed information via the **Wayback Machine**, an internet archive that preserves previous versions of websites.

Nevertheless, Judge Bates dismissed this explanation, highlighting that the **Wayback Machine does not capture every webpage** and that archived pages **do not show up in search engine results.** He stressed that a physician would only be able to locate an archived page if they were already familiar with the Wayback Machine and had the precise URL of the deleted webpage.

As a result of this ruling, the government is now compelled to **immediately restore the public health websites**, guaranteeing that doctors and the public can once more access vital medical information.