A Justice Department subpoena published in court documents this week provided details about the Trump administration’s expansive demands for confidential patient information from doctors and hospitals that provide gender-related treatments for children.
The subpoena to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, sent in June, includes a seven-page list of requested documents, including “every writing or record of whatever type” made by doctors related to gender-affirming care, which includes therapy, puberty blockers, hormones and sometimes surgery. The subpoena, which was reported by The Washington Post, also requested the birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses of patients who received transgender care.
In addition to emails, text messages and voice mail records, the subpoena also requested any messages sent or received through the encrypted WhatsApp messaging service, as well as “similar applications.”
The records request revealed the extent to which the administration has sought to pierce powerful federal confidentiality protections for patients and their medical providers as part of the government’s pressure campaign to end all transition care for children.
Officials briefed on the investigation have previously described subpoenas to hospitals and doctors on transgender care as part of an effort to determine whether any laws have been broken, and to provide leverage for negotiations with health care providers who provide transgender care. Investigators could eventually seek criminal charges if evidence of fraud is uncovered, officials said.
The Justice Department investigations of pediatricians and children’s hospitals are just one component of the Trump administration’s campaign against pediatric gender care.
In May, nine leading children’s hospitals across the country received letters from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, demanding data on children’s gender-related treatments. Those letters applied explicit financial pressure to the hospitals, saying that “hospitals accepting federal funds are expected to meet rigorous quality standards.”
In June, the F.B.I. put out a call to the public to report hospitals and doctors who were performing gender-related surgeries on minors. Last month, a top Justice Department official announced at an event hosted by the Federal Trade Commission that manufacturers of drugs used in transgender care were under investigation for possible violations of drug marketing laws.
Even in blue states with laws that broadly allow such care, hospitals and clinics have sharply curtailed gender-related treatments for transgender youth amid the threats from the federal government. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, for example, shuttered its renowned clinic for transgender care last month.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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