The Ministry of Health & Human Services (HHS) seems to have withdrawn a web page from the general surgeon’s office (OSG) which included an opinion on armed violence.
In June 2024, the United States General Surgeon Vivek Murthy published an opinion declaring that armed violence is a public health crisis in America, calling for an approach based on evidence of public health change as well as a prohibition of assault weapons and great capacity magazines for civil use.
“Violence in firearms is an urgent public health crisis that has led to loss of linked lives, unimaginable pain and one deep grief for far too many Americans,” said Motherthy in a statement at the time.
The OSG published a press release at the time showing that at least 10 national medical organizations – notably the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Surgeons, the American Public Health Association and the YWCA – wrote statements in support.
However, the web page where the existence of the council existed Currently displays a message “Page not found”.
Dr. Vivek H. Motherthy speaks on stage at the “Parents summit” of the Archewell Foundation: mental well-being in the digital age “in Hudson Yards, October 10, 2023, in New York.
Bryan Bedder / Getty Images
“We are sorry, but there is no www.hhs.gov page that corresponds to your entry. Possible reasons: the page may have been moved, it no longer exists, or the address may have been incorrectly tapped,” said the website on Monday.
The White House did not immediately respond to the request for comments from ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, the HHS said that the ministry “and the general surgeon’s office comply with President Trump’s decree on the protection of the rights of the second amendment”.
Last month, President Donald Trump delivered a decreeordering the Attorney General to review “[a]The actions of the presidential election and agencies from January 2021 to January 2025 which claim to promote security, but may have empiety of the second amendment of laws respecting laws. “”
HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., previously said that he believed in the second amendment but that he wants to determine the cause of mass shots.
In a live flow in 2023 on X with Elon Musk, Kennedy falsely claimed that there were “huge circumstantial evidence” that people using antidepressants were more likely to commit school fire. Experts previously declared to ABC News that there was no evidence suggesting that patients with mental health disorders or those who take disorders are more likely to be violent.
Linked to firearms are the main cause of death in the United States among children and adolescents. Suicides linked to firearms increased among all age groups from 2012 to 2022; The largest increase has been among the 10 to 14 year olds, according to the council of Murhty.
Programs to prevention of armed violence, such as Giffords – which was founded by the former deputy Gabrielle Giffords – criticized the Trump administration for the withdrawal of the opinion.
“By deleting this important public health notice with rescue resources, President Trump has chosen to prioritize the profits of the firearms industry on the protection of children and families,” said Emma Brown, executive director of Giffords, in a statement. “Firearms have been the first killer of American children and adolescents since 2020, and non -supporting health care experts have understood armed violence as a public health crisis for years.”
Dr. Jade Cobern of the ABC News medical unit contributed to this report.
