AMA adopts IDSA-led call to protect evidence-based medicine, public health and research

An IDSA resolution calling for the American Medical Association to “assertively and publicly” advocate for federal and state policies that safeguard public health infrastructure, advance biomedical research and improve vaccine confidence was approved June 10. 

Authored by IDSA, co-sponsored by 10 other medical societies and passed by AMA’s House of Delegates, the resolution also called for AMA to advocate for policies that maintain the integrity of evidence-based medicine and decision-making. The resolution affirmed that protecting science, clinical integrity and the patient-physician relationship are central to AMA’s mission.

“This is a defining moment for the American Medical Association to protect the foundation upon which medicine stands: the freedom to follow science in pursuit of the best outcomes for patients, free from interference by shifting political winds,” the resolution said.

IDSA’s delegates to AMA’s legislative and policymaking body, which met June 6-11 in Chicago and includes more than 600 voting delegates, are Michael L. Butera, MD, FIDSA (lead delegate); Nancy Crum, MD, MPH, FIDSA; and Megan L. Srinivas, MD, MPH.

The IDSA-led measure highlighted that recent federal actions have undermined key “pillars of health” by:

• Rescinding critical funding for state and local public health departments that support vaccination, surveillance, epidemiology and laboratory capacity
• Canceling National Institutes of Health-funded grants and clinical trials, delaying NIH grant reviews and weakening the peer-review process in favor of politicized funding decisions
• Promoting misinformation and disinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness, contributing to rising levels of vaccine hesitancy
• Implementing massive workforce reductions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Resources and Services Administration, NIH and other agencies
• Eliminating efforts to promote health equity, placing many of the most vulnerable patients at even greater risk for poor health outcomes

“These actions are taking place amidst an alarming resurgence of infectious diseases — including measles, tuberculosis and pertussis — the most severe influenza season in over a decade, and historically high rates of cancer and chronic illness,” the resolution said.

Federal actions have increasingly interfered with evidence-based medical practice, the resolution noted, “including in areas such as vaccine policy, gender-affirming care, reproductive health, infectious disease and HIV prevention and treatment, and public health data collection.” 

However, the current pace and scale of AMA’s advocacy and public communications have not met “the urgency and magnitude of the threats facing public health, biomedical science and patient care,” the resolution said.

The measure calls for AMA to report back at its 2025 interim meeting on actions taken to implement the policy.

IDSA also co-sponsored an emergency resolution, which passed as well, that called on Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to immediately reverse his decision to remove all 17 voting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In addition, the resolution called for a Senate investigation into his actions.

About IDSA
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a global community of 13,000 clinicians, scientists and public health experts working together to solve humanity’s smallest and greatest challenges, from tiny microbes to global outbreaks. Rooted in science, committed to health equity and driven by curiosity, our compassionate and knowledgeable members safeguard the health of individuals, our communities and the world by advancing the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Visit idsociety.org to learn more.