Opinion: What’s worrisome about White House focus on ‘gold standard science’
The Trump administration’s emphasis on “gold standard science” may seem reasonable on its face, but scientists have expressed alarm about what it means in practice, according to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Nancy Krieger.
Krieger, professor of social epidemiology, outlined her own and other experts’ concerns in a Nov. 18 Health Affairs Forefront commentary.
Following an executive order issued by President Trump this spring on “restoring gold standard science,” federal agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released policies on the topic. But while worthwhile goals are stated in the executive order such as that science be “transparent, rigorous, and impactful,” Krieger wrote, scientists are worried that it also empowers political appointees to approve or discard scientific evidence.
The policies are already being implemented in deeply troubling ways, according to Krieger. “The reality is that federal agencies under this current administration are brandishing this ‘gold standard science’ as a cudgel, to make data, people, and problems disappear,” she wrote. For example, she noted that the CDC has issued statements rejecting the value of health equity research. And in September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cancelled the Household Food Security Report, which provides yearly data on the state of food insecurity and helps provide policymakers and others with evidence to help shape policy recommendations to combat hunger.
Krieger wrote, “The real gold standard for science, and academic freedom, requires upholding scientific work that investigates who and what is responsible for creating conditions in which only a select few, rather than all, can thrive.”
Read the commentary: Challenging The Administration’s Weaponized And Lethal “Gold Standard Science”
