Robert Redfield, MD, director of the CDC, did not directly oppose the Trump administration's proposal to redefine an individual's sex at birth, but did indicate such a policy could pose a threat to public health efforts, according to STAT.
Dr. Redfield discussed the proposal during an interview with Rick Berke, STAT's executive editor, at the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit in Washington, D.C. When Mr. Berke asked the CDC leader if the proposed policy could complicate HIV treatment efforts, specifically among transgender women, Dr. Redfield said, "We need to understand that stigmatizing illness, stigmatizing individuals is not in the interest of public health."
He said he was not involved in creating the proposed policy, which would change the legal definition of sex to “a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth,” according to The New York Times. The definition change would apply to Title IX, which is the civil rights law that prohibits gender discrimination in federally funded educational programs.
Dr. Redfield argued stigma can significantly interfere with efforts to treat diseases, citing the opioid epidemic as an example.
“People don’t realize that addiction is a medical condition, it’s not a moral failing," he told STAT. "People don’t realize it's a chronic medical condition."
Dr. Redfield also compared stigmatized opioid use to cancer. People don’t stigmatize cancer patients who go into remission and then have their cancer return, so we should not stigmatize people who relapse after drug use, he argued.
Many scientists have pushed back on the proposed policy, arguing it contradicts biological basics. Many individuals are born with sex chromosomes or genitalia that do not match the social definitions of male and female. President Donald Trump told reporters the administration.
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