‘Troubling’: NY Judge blocks DOJ from accessing medical records of child transgender procedures

In the wake of a New York judge’s temporary ruling barring the Department of Justice from accessing medical records of minors that various New York federally funded hospitals performed transgender procedures on, a consumer protection organization said it is “not shocking” the hospitals want to continue with their policies, while a medical watchdog called the ruling “troubling.”

Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild told The Center Square that “it is not shocking that these nonprofit hospitals will stop at nothing to continue their woke policies.”

“We have already exposed nonprofit hospitals, like Mount Sinai, for using taxpayer dollars and tax-exempt status while abandoning their core patient care mission in favor of radical ideological agendas,” Hild said.

“These systems and their constant pushback against transparency and accountability only further raises questions of potential misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Hild said.

“But thanks to the Trump administration, these hospitals are finally facing accountability,” Hild said.

Chief medical officer at watchdog Do No Harm Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Center Square: "It’s troubling to see activist judges overlook children’s safety in matters involving sex change interventions.”

“Alongside concerns about the medical risks, the Department of Justice is investigating potential healthcare fraud and the off-label promotion of drugs such as puberty blockers,” Miceli said.

“Courts should enforce accountability, not block a needed examination of how these interventions have been used on minors,” Miceli said.

The Department of Justice declined to comment to The Center Square.

District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued the temporary ruling last week. Failla’s staff did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square.

American Principles Project President Terry Schilling shared with The Center Square recent cases that were settled concerning transgender procedures and minors.

"The Trump administration has won historic victories against hospital systems that profited from the misery of confused minors in both Texas and Ohio,” Schilling told The Center Square.

“The doctors and institutions that failed to protect patients and vulnerable families may try to dodge accountability and scrutiny, but justice is coming for children and detransitioners,” Schilling said.

Earlier in June, the DOJ announced that the Cleveland Clinic Foundation followed “Texas Children’s Hospital in reaching agreement with the Department of Justice to provide detransition care and not perform sex-rejecting procedures on minors.”

According to the Wednesday ruling, the DOJ is seeking access to the transgender procedure medical records for their “investigations into health care offenses related to gender-affirming medical care.”

The ruling’s reasoning was that “Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they will suffer irreparable harm if the Court does not issue relief.” The ruling also expressed concerns of running “afoul of constitutional protections” as well as committing breaches “of physician-patient confidentiality under New York law.”

The ruling further stated that DOJ defendants are “restrained and enjoined from…seeking, receiving, using, retaining, or disseminating any identifying or sensitive health information of Plaintiffs…through the Subpoenas at issue or substantially similar administrative or grand jury subpoenas.”