On July 28, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — the federal agency “tasked as the federal government’s guardian against deceptive health claims” — announced that it is seeking comment from the public on “potential deceptive and unfair practices” involved in “gender-affirming care” (GAC).
Specifically, the FTC seeks to understand and evaluate whether and how consumers (particularly, minors) “have been exposed to false or unsupported claims” about GAC and to “gauge the harms consumers may be experiencing.” The FTC is “uniquely positioned to investigate” and evaluate whether medical professionals or others failed to “disclose material risks associated with GAC” or made “false or unsubstantiated claims about the benefits or effectiveness of GAC” in violation of Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act.
Acknowledging the “widespread concern about the harms of GAC for minors,” the five-page request for information (RFI) cites to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Skrmetti v. United States (which held that Tennessee’s law prohibiting GAC for minors did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment), President Trump’s executive order on “protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” the more than two dozen state laws prohibiting GAC for minors, and actions taken by other countries to restrict or ban GAC for minors.
The RFI points out that, in contrast, certain medical organizations “continue to advocate for GAC as the best standard of care, despite the apparent lack of a widespread medical consensus as to whether GAC is the correct course of action for gender dysphoric youth.” Information and communications from organizations promoting GAC and revelations by news outlets, whistleblowers, detransitioners, parents, and independent reviews and studies “have revealed potential deceptive or unfair practices involved in this type of medical care.”
On July 9, the FTC held a workshop that included testimony about the harms of GAC for minors from doctors, medical ethicists, whistleblowers, detransitioners, and parents of detransitioners. Their testimony “indicated that GAC practitioners may be actively deceiving consumers.”
The FTC now seeks comment from the public on “any issues or concerns that are relevant to the FTC’s consideration of these topics,” including “any written data, advertisements, social media posts, disclosures, or empirical research.”
The FTC is especially interested in comment from “those who have personal experience with GAC” and asks for answers to four questions:
- “Have you or a family member ever visited a medical professional or other organization that recommended [GAC]?”
- “Have you or a family member ever undergone GAC?”
- “Are you aware of any practitioners, entities, or institutions providing GAC that have made false representations regarding the benefits or effectiveness of GAC?”
- “Are you aware of any individuals, entities, or institutions that have promoted, advertised, or otherwise made public representations about GAC procedures or GAC-related products?”
Each question has a list of follow-up questions, prompting commenters to provide more details.
The RFI indicated that comments could “inform the FTC’s enforcement priorities and future actions.” The agency has a “long history” of health care-related enforcement actions. According to the FTC’s website, actions the FTC takes include “vigorous and effective law enforcement”; “sharing its expertise” with legislatures and government agencies; developing “policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences”; and creating “practical and plain-language educational programs.”
Comments are due Friday, September 26, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. and can be submitted publicly at regulations.gov or confidentially to ElectronicFilings@ftc.gov or “via mail to the attention of the Office of the Secretary.” For all public comments, the FTC will redact “sensitive health information protected from disclosure” prior to posting unless consent is provided otherwise. More specific instructions for submitting comments and on confidentially are provided in the RFI.