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Economic Times
15-07-2025
- Health
- Economic Times
Health data cover up? 100+ US government datasets quietly altered without warning
Over 100 US government health datasets were quietly altered earlier this year, and most of those changes were made without public notice, leaving major transparency and trust issues about official data, as per a report. A recent study in The Lancet went deep into 232 datasets from major organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to Psypost. The study, "Data manipulation within the US Federal Government," was authored by Janet Freilich and Aaron S. Kesselheim, as reported by Psypost. What they discovered was that almost half of the datasets had had wording adjustments that were not mentioned anywhere in the formal change logs, as per the report. The most frequent edit was replacing the term "gender" with "sex," as reported by Psypost. ALSO READ: Epstein files stay sealed — Republicans block move to force Trump admin to reveal details To find this out, the researchers compared existing datasets to older versions held online, as per the report. In most instances, despite the dataset appearing to have been recently updated, the change logs indicated nothing had been changed, according to Psypost. For instance, a Veterans Affairs document monitoring veteran medical care changed "Gender" to "Sex" in its headers and titles, but its change log doggedly reported, "No changes have been archived yet," as reported by Psypost. It is important to know because these datasets are the foundation of millions of public health studies on everything from mental illness to chronic disease and health disparities, according to the report. When words like "gender" and "sex" are incorrectly interchanged without definition, it is nearly impossible to tell whether changes in the data indicate true changes in the population or merely a quiet rewrite behind the scenes, as per the Psypost report. ALSO READ: Trump's tariff threat could trigger recession as August 1 deadline looms, and he might not blink this time This is not merely a statistical concern, as gender and sex are not the same thing: gender is social identity, and sex is biological categorisation, according to the report. A large number of transgender and non-binary individuals have identities that differ from the sex at birth, as reported by Psypost. Thus, if suddenly one dataset starts remapping "gender" to "sex" without explaining why it was altered, researchers cannot interpret results properly, according to the report. That confusion might compel public health officials to make decisions based on false information, as per Psypost. The timing of the edits is also significant because the edits primarily occurred between January and March of 2025, shortly following a White House directive that called on federal agencies to drop language linked to what it referred to as "gender ideology," as reported by Psypost. Although there is no official confirmation about the dataset edits being carried out in response to the White House's directive, but the pattern indicates a coordinated effort, according to Psypost. The researchers indicate that this lack of transparency jeopardises both scientific integrity and public trust, as per the report. They call for more robust systems for tracking and justifying all changes to data so that everyone, from policymakers to ordinary citizens, can clearly see what's been changed and why, according to Psypost. They also propose that independent groups and researchers maintain their own versions of datasets and compare them with archives on a regular basis, as per the the difference between 'gender' and 'sex' in data?'Sex' usually refers to biology (male or female), while 'gender' includes social identity (like non-binary or transgender). Swapping them without clarification can distort results. Did the government admit to making these changes? No federal agency has publicly confirmed the edits or explained the reason behind them.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Health data cover up? 100+ US government datasets quietly altered without warning
'Gender' Replaced With 'Sex' in Majority of Edits Change Logs Claim 'No Changes,' Despite Edits Live Events Why It Matters for Public Health Researchers Warn of Misinterpretation in Gender-Sensitive Data Edits Followed White House Directive Targeting 'Gender Ideology' Public Trust at Risk if Data Integrity Isn't Protected FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Over 100 US government health datasets were quietly altered earlier this year, and most of those changes were made without public notice, leaving major transparency and trust issues about official data, as per a report.A recent study in The Lancet went deep into 232 datasets from major organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to Psypost. The study, "Data manipulation within the US Federal Government ," was authored by Janet Freilich and Aaron S. Kesselheim, as reported by they discovered was that almost half of the datasets had had wording adjustments that were not mentioned anywhere in the formal change logs, as per the report. The most frequent edit was replacing the term "gender" with "sex," as reported by READ: Epstein files stay sealed — Republicans block move to force Trump admin to reveal details To find this out, the researchers compared existing datasets to older versions held online, as per the report. In most instances, despite the dataset appearing to have been recently updated, the change logs indicated nothing had been changed, according to Psypost. For instance, a Veterans Affairs document monitoring veteran medical care changed "Gender" to "Sex" in its headers and titles, but its change log doggedly reported, "No changes have been archived yet," as reported by is important to know because these datasets are the foundation of millions of public health studies on everything from mental illness to chronic disease and health disparities, according to the report. When words like "gender" and "sex" are incorrectly interchanged without definition, it is nearly impossible to tell whether changes in the data indicate true changes in the population or merely a quiet rewrite behind the scenes, as per the Psypost READ: Trump's tariff threat could trigger recession as August 1 deadline looms, and he might not blink this time This is not merely a statistical concern, as gender and sex are not the same thing: gender is social identity, and sex is biological categorisation, according to the report. A large number of transgender and non-binary individuals have identities that differ from the sex at birth, as reported by Psypost. Thus, if suddenly one dataset starts remapping "gender" to "sex" without explaining why it was altered, researchers cannot interpret results properly, according to the report. That confusion might compel public health officials to make decisions based on false information, as per timing of the edits is also significant because the edits primarily occurred between January and March of 2025, shortly following a White House directive that called on federal agencies to drop language linked to what it referred to as "gender ideology," as reported by Psypost. Although there is no official confirmation about the dataset edits being carried out in response to the White House's directive, but the pattern indicates a coordinated effort, according to researchers indicate that this lack of transparency jeopardises both scientific integrity and public trust, as per the report. They call for more robust systems for tracking and justifying all changes to data so that everyone, from policymakers to ordinary citizens, can clearly see what's been changed and why, according to Psypost. They also propose that independent groups and researchers maintain their own versions of datasets and compare them with archives on a regular basis, as per the report.'Sex' usually refers to biology (male or female), while 'gender' includes social identity (like non-binary or transgender). Swapping them without clarification can distort federal agency has publicly confirmed the edits or explained the reason behind them.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump officials ‘secretly' changed US health data in ‘gender ideology' crackdown, researchers allege
The Trump administration quietly altered massive US health datasets to remove any mention of gender, according to a new analysis. Scientists around the world rely on health data from US government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But since President Donald Trump took office in January, these agencies have been altering data labels, mostly without disclosure, according to the investigation published in The Lancet, a leading medical journal. The authors argue that the 'hidden' changes could cast doubt on the integrity of American science. The database edits 'might be politically motivated and [are] not transparent,' Dr Aaron Kesselheim, a professor at Harvard Medical School, and Janet Freilich, a law professor at Boston University, said in the paper. Related Will Trump's funding cuts help Europe lure top research talent from the US? Their analysis included 232 US health datasets that were edited from late January to late March, covering veterans' health care use, global tobacco consumption, stroke deaths, nutrition, exercise, and obesity. It did not include datasets that are updated on a regular basis. About half of these datasets were 'substantially altered' during the two-month period, but only 15 acknowledged that changes had been made, the study found. The parts of the datasets meant for these disclosures remained empty as of early May, the researchers said. In most of the edited datasets – 106 of them – the word 'gender' was swapped out for 'sex'. Related US demands that EU companies comply with anti-diversity order US agencies have not confirmed or explained the changes, but Freilich and Kesselheim suspect they were made to comply with a Trump order to remove 'messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology'. The executive order, issued on Trump's first day in office, said it aimed to restore 'biological truth' to US agencies, and set a national policy 'to recognise two sexes, male and female,' they said. It was part of a flurry of activity to clamp down on LGBTQ protections. Some data was initially removed from federal websites, but was largely restored due to a court order. Related Trump administration's funding freeze for foreign medical research to hit European scientists The Lancet analysis indicates that not all changes were reversed. It is not clear if the actual numbers were altered, or only the labels about gender or sex. But Freilich and Kesselheim said the distinction is important because some people will respond to surveys differently based on each term. That can undermine the quality of the data and lead researchers to draw inaccurate conclusions, they said. They described the undisclosed changes as a 'crisis' that could make US data 'untrustworthy and unusable'. They called on governments elsewhere in the world to invest in other data sources.
