Transgender patients of Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles secured a win this week after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to end its efforts to obtain personal and medical information of more than 3,000 young patients.<\/p>\n
Last summer, the federal Justice Department announced that it sent subpoenas<\/a> to more than 20 medical providers that offered gender-affirming care for minors. At the time, the department said it was doing so to investigate \u201chealthcare fraud\u201d and \u201cfalse statements.\u201d<\/p>\n Seven families whose children have received gender-affirming services at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles sued in November to quash the subpoena to protect their information.<\/p>\n The department never provided evidence of fraud, said Khadijah Silver, director of Gender Justice & Health Equity at Lawyers for Good Government, one of the firms representing families in the class action lawsuit. The hospital did not not turn over the requested documents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was basically a fishing expedition,\u201d Silver said. \u201cWithout any probable cause, they did not have the authority to be seeking medical information.\u201d<\/p>\n The DOJ and Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles did not immediately return requests for comment.<\/p>\n The department subpoena demanded the hospital provide a large range of documents, including patient intake forms, insurance claims and \u201cdocuments sufficient to identify each patient (by name, date of birth, social security number, address, and parent\/guardian information) who was prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy,\u201d court documents show.<\/p>\n Under the agreement, filed in federal court Thursday<\/a>, the Justice Department will withdraw requests for documents that identified patients or their families through 2029.<\/p>\n Attorneys representing patients and their families have moved to dismiss the case.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one piece of a large, very important puzzle, but it does allow our clients to hold on to their basic legal right to medical privacy,\u201d Silver said.<\/p>\n The settlement unfolded the same week that a judge in Baltimore rejected<\/a> the Trump administration\u2019s request to subpoena the same information from Children\u2019s National Hospital in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n The subpoena is not the only federal action that has targeted transgender patients and their providers.<\/p>\n Last year, the Trump administration issued an executive order that threatened to pull federal funding from medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care. Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the summer<\/a> seeking to block the order.<\/p>\n The federal government has also issued orders that recognize only two biological sexes and prevent transgender girls and women<\/a> from participating in women\u2019s sports. A third order threatens federal funds for schools that support transgender youth.<\/p>\n After federal actions escalated, Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles closed the doors to its Center for Transyouth Health and Development last July, leaving about 3,000 young patients in limbo. Other providers in the state have also scaled back gender-affirming services<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe shutdown came despite efforts my office took over recent months to assure (Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles) that they were protected and required to provide gender-affirming care,\u201d Bonta said at the time.<\/p>\n