Two Major Health-Care Systems Reach Agreement with DOJ to End ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors

Two of the nation’s largest health-care systems — New York University Langone Hospitals (NYU) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) — will no longer provide “gender-affirming care” to minors as part of an agreement with the Department of Justice.

The agreement, announced Friday by the DOJ, also requires the hospital systems to pay fines for allegedly violating federal law by performing harmful, life-altering procedures on children, though neither hospital admitted any wrongdoing as part of the agreement.

“The Department of Justice is fighting to protect our nation’s children and working tirelessly to reach agreements with hospitals to end so-called ‘gender affirming care’ for minors,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Today’s resolutions send a clear message: hospitals that target children in these practices and then fraudulently obtain payment for the procedures will be held to account.”

NYU initially discontinued gender-transition services for minors earlier this year after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding from the hospital.

Soon after taking office, President Trump directed the DOJ to launch a nationwide investigation into the “child gender-transition industry.” The ongoing investigation is focused on potential violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the False Claims Act, among other federal laws. Investigators across the Trump administration are also examining whether various hospital systems have engaged in fraudulent billing practices by using false diagnosis codes to secure payments from federal health-care programs and private insurers for otherwise uninsurable procedures.

Per the agreement, the two health-care systems will no longer participate in any sex interventions with minor-aged patients, and will stop “administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and performing surgical procedures,” the DOJ said. Further, the NYU system will pay $8.5 million and UPMC will pay $950,000.

“We appreciate that some of the nation’s largest and most prestigious hospital systems have agreed to cease harming minors under the guise of ‘gender-affirming care’ and agreed to pay for potential violations of federal law when they did so,” Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division, said. “But I want to be clear: our efforts and investigations into other providers are ongoing.  Those that have broken the law and not resolved their potential liability will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.”

In agreeing to discontinue gender-transition procedures for minors, NYU and UPMC joined Mount Sinai Health System in New York, Texas Children’s Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Connecticut Children’s Hospital.

In a statement announcing the agreement, a UPMC spokesperson said that the deal “includes important privacy, confidentiality, and non-prosecution protections for patients, legal guardians, providers, and employees, and expressly includes no admission of wrongdoing, fault, or liability.”

“UPMC chose to resolve the matter to avoid prolonged litigation, protect patients and families from unnecessary disclosure of sensitive personal and health information, protect employees, and remain focused on patient care and advancing its core mission,” the spokesperson said in a statement provided to a local ABC affiliate.

NYU similarly stressed that the agreement includes no admission of wrongdoing.

“NYU Langone has not entered into this settlement because of any wrongdoing and has affirmatively denied any wrongdoing or liability in the agreement,” spokesperson Steve Ritea said in a statement provided to The Gothamist. “We believe this resolution is in the best interests of our patients and their families, protecting them as well as our providers and the institution from prolonged litigation.”

While agreements have been reached with several hospitals, the DOJ says that investigations into other health-care systems remain ongoing.

“My office’s foremost priority is protecting children. The resolutions announced today reflect the close collaboration across the Department of Justice and our continued commitment to ensuring that minors are safeguarded,” said Ryan Raybould, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. “These investigations are ongoing, and my office will continue to follow the evidence, act decisively when the well-being of minors is at stake, and fully pursue wrongdoers who have broken federal law.”