Judge issues ‘complete rebuke’ of DOJ demand for private medical records

A federal judge on Monday, Nov. 24, blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from accessing private medical records of kids who sought gender-affirming care at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, according to reports by Molly Sprayregen for LGBTQ Nation.

The DOJ in June sent subpoenas to 20 medical providers who offer gender-affirming care to trans youth, demanding patients’ social security numbers, email addresses, home addresses and information about the care the patients had received, under the pretense of investigating healthcare fraud.

The DOJ demanded information about the providers’ employees and their correspondence with pharmaceutical manufacturers, marketing departments and sales representatives, as well as other sensitive information dating back to January 2020.

The hospital sued to protect its patients, and this week U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Kearney sided with the hospital, writing that “even if this private information could be relevant, the heightened privacy interests of children and their families substantially outweighs the department’s need to know” it.

Kearney acknowledged that the hospital had agreed to produce certain categories of records in response to the subpoena but drew the line at anything that sacrificed patient privacy. He said, “The records sought here fall at the highest end of the intimate and personal spectrum. They contain comprehensive psychosocial evaluations and deeply personal disclosures by children about their bodies, sexuality, trauma, family dynamics, self-harm, mental-health history and cognitive and emotional functioning. They also include the diagnoses, clinical reasoning, and informed-consent discussions underlying treatment decisions.”

That level of detail Kearney added, “places the information among the most personal and sensitive a medical provider can hold and squarely within the class of intimate material our Court of Appeals has long regarded as warranting the strongest constitutional protection.”

A similar battle continues to unfold here in Texas where Attorney General Ken Paxton has demanded medical records of transgender minors from clinics not even in the state of Texas and demanded that PFLAG National turn over information and documents about its support of Texas families seeking gender-affirming medical care for their transgender children.

Clinics targeted by Paxton have sued the Texas AG, as had PFLAG. Judges have issued temporary restraining orders and injunctions limiting the scope of the information Paxton can demand, but at least one clinic — Seattle Children’s Hospital — reached a settlement with Paxton in which the clinic agreed to withdraw its business license in Texas and was not required to provide patient records.

In October and November of 2024, Paxton sued physicians May Lau, M. Brett Cooper and Hector Granados, doctors who provided gender-affirming health care to trans youth, claiming the three violated the state’s intrusive law prohibiting such medical to those under the age of 18.

May Lau surrendered her Texas medical license in October this year, not as an admission of guilt but because she left the state and moved to Oregon and is in practice there.

Cooper agreed in February this year to stop practicing medicine on patients and instead restrict himself to research, administrative and academic while the lawsuit against him is ongoing. This agreement is temporary; that case is expected to go to trial next year.

Paxton withdrew the lawsuit against Granados in September this after having to admit his investigation into the doctor found “no legal violations.”

— Tammye Nash