Do No Harm Sues HHS Over Native Hawaiian Scholarship

0:00A conservative group called Dunoharm just filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program. This decades-old initiative funds Native Hawaiian students to become doctors and nurses, requiring them to serve two to four years and underserved rural communities in Hawaii. The group claims its unconstitutional race-based discrimination, representing non-native applicants who say they were blocked from applying. The program started back in 1988 through Congress to tackle major health gaps for Native Hawaiians like higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and even suicide. Since then, it's helped over 320 students get tuition, stipends, and support and return for that community service commitment. Leaders at Pabaola-Lokahi, the nonprofit running it, fired back strong, saying the program delivers culturally attuned care that boosts health for. Everyone in those islands. They stress seeing someone who looks like you in that doctor's coat makes a real difference.

1:03Meanwhile, the plaintiffs include a white nursing student and medical students who argue they'd serve just as well, despite no Native Hawaiian ancestry. This suit fits a pattern from Dunoharm, which has hit other health programs nationwide over alleged bias from black wellness centers to ethnic, scholarships. It echoes last year's challenge to Kamehameha Schools admissions backed by Link's conservative advocates who toppled college affirmative action at the Supreme Court. As the case heads to court under a Trump administration, skeptical of diversity efforts, Pabaola-Lokahi is mulling intervention and warns this could. Spark attacks on more Native Hawaiian programs. The fight tests whether targeted aid for historic inequities holds up against equal access claims. That wraps Canada News Today, brought to you with AI. I'm Kori with the story.