Overview
- Texas Children’s Hospital reached federal and state settlements on Friday, May 15, agreeing to pay more than $10 million and to stop providing gender-affirming treatments to minors.
- The deal requires the hospital to open what officials call the nation’s first detransition clinic, which the hospital will fund and make free to patients for five years, though specific services have not been detailed.
- Authorities say the agreements resolve allegations of improper billing for pediatric gender care, with the Justice Department citing the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the False Claims Act, and federal fraud and conspiracy laws.
- The hospital denies wrongdoing and says it settled to avoid costly, drawn-out litigation, adding that it plans to focus resources on other patient care and research.
- The settlement also compels firing five physicians tied to the care in question and could influence other providers as Texas’s 2023 ban on youth hormones and blockers intersects with ongoing federal investigations and proposed insurance payment limits.