Source: the guardian

Move that seeks political control of doctors' and scientists' published research fits a pattern of censorship by the Trump administration, veterans advocates say

Aaron Glantz Sun 1 Jun 2025 16.13 EDT

Senior officials at the US Department of Veterans Affairs have ordered that VA physicians and scientists not publish in medical journals or speak with the public without first seeking clearance from political appointees of Donald Trump, the Guardian has learned.

The edict, laid down in emails on Friday by Curt Cashour, the VA's assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, and John Bartrum, a senior adviser to VA secretary Doug Collins, came hours after the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a perspective co-authored by two pulmonologists who work for the VA in Texas.

"We have guidance for this," wrote Cashour, a former Republican congressional aide and campaign consultant, attaching the journal article. "These people did not follow it."

The article warned that cancelled contracts, layoffs and a planned staff reduction of 80,000 employees in the nation's largest integrated healthcare system jeopardizes the health of a million veterans seeking help for conditions linked to toxic exposure - ranging from Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who developed cancer after being exposed to smoke from piles of flaming toxic waste.

"As pulmonologists in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), we have been seeing increasing numbers of veterans with chronic bronchitis, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and other respiratory conditions," doctors Pavan Ganapathiraju and Rebecca Traylor wrote.........................

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/01/us-veterans-affairs-agency-doctors-scientists-research