Texas Attorney General Announces Settlement with Texas Children's Hospital Over Gender-Affirming Care Practices
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday a significant settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston over that hospital’s long practice of harming minors with cross-sex hormones and transgender surgeries. The settlement focuses on billing fraud, a much-discussed aspect of transgender medical programs in which providers bill insurance for falsely described procedures that appear to represent real treatment for sick children.
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The Daily WireThe detransition clinic will be created as part of a settlement negotiated between Texas Children’s Hospital, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the Justice Department. Texas Children’s Hospital will additionally pay a $10 million fine and fire five doctors who “performed harmful medical interventions on Texans,” Paxton said.
NBC NewsTexas Children’s Hospital must create the country’s “first-ever detransition clinic,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday in announcing a settlement agreement that concludes a yearslong investigation into the medical center’s treatment program for transgender youth.
New York TimesHospital Will Open First ‘Detransition’ Clinic in Legal Settlement With Texas Texas Children’s Hospital was under investigation for billing practices on gender-transition treatments. The settlement was expected to end that inquiry.
Washington Examiner“I applaud Texas Children’s Hospital for changing course and committing to being a part of the solution by agreeing to form a first-of-its kind Detransition Clinic that will help provide free care to those who have been victimized by twisted, morally bankrupt transgender ideology,” Paxton said in a statement. “Under my watch, I will investigate and bring the full force of the law against any Texas hospital that abuses children with harmful medical interventions to ‘transition’ kids.”
BreitbartTCH entered into an agreement with the DOJ and the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that includes a commitment not to offer sex change drugs or surgeries to minors, $10 million in damages and civil penalties, and the creation of the detransitioner clinic, DOJ said. DOH said the $10 million is to “resolve allegations that it submitted false billings to public and private payors to secure insurance coverage for pediatric sex-rejecting procedures.”
Associated PressPaxton said the settlement will require Texas Children’s to set up a “detransition clinic” to provide free care to transgender patients for five years to “reverse the damage” from gender-affirming care. He described it as the first “detransition clinic” of its kind in the nation, although that could not immediately be confirmed.
The HillTexas Children’s Hospital must create country’s first ‘detransition clinic’ under settlement with Paxton Texas Children’s Hospital will create the nation’s first “detransition clinic,” fire five physicians and pay the state $10 million under an unusual settlement announced Friday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). The clinic would focus on providing medical care to patients who had undergone gender-affirming healthcare and work toward reversing its effects, Paxton said.   For the first five…
Washington TimesUnder pressure from federal and state authorities, Texas Children’s Hospital has agreed to pay a penalty of $10 million, to agree not to perform any more gender transition procedures on children and to establish a first-of-its-kind “detransition clinic” to help children who have already gone through it.
The Guardian USAlong with creating what the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has called the nation’s “first-ever detransition clinic”, Paxton’s office announced that the hospital would also pay the state $10m and has been encouraged to terminate multiple physicians as part of the agreement. Texas children’s will fund all services at the detransition clinic over the first five years, and it will be free for patients.
HuffPostThe settlement is also a significant victory in the Trump administration’s efforts to block access to gender-affirming care for minors. In 2025, the Supreme Court cleared the way for states to ban gender-affirming care for minors, opening the door for 26 states to block access. The DOJ has investigated more than a dozen hospitals and clinics that offer transition care to youth, and this week launched the first known criminal probe of a New York hospital for providing gender-affirming care. More than 40 hospitals, including in states where gender-affirming care for minors remains legal, have shuttered their doors.
New York PostTexas hospital to launch youth ‘detransition clinic,’ fire doctors in $10M settlement over transgender treatments
ReutersJudge blocks Kansas ban on gender-transition treatment for minors - Reuters Judge blocks Kansas ban on gender-transition treatment for minors Reuters
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The hospital cooperated with the probe, “as highlighted by its multi-million-dollar commitment to providing care to the victims who most need it,” the department said.
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BreitbartThe DOJ said in its announcement that TCH “took significant steps entitling it to credit for cooperation with the Department in its investigation,” and said TCH “remained cooperative, proactive, and solution-driven, as highlighted by its multi-million-dollar commitment to providing care to the victims who most need it.”
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Under the agreement, the hospital will provide services at the clinic free of charge to patients for the first five years.
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New York PostFor the first five years, the hospital will provide those services free of charge to patients.
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Paxton’s office did not release a copy of the agreement, and the statement from Texas Children’s did not discuss its specific terms.
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NBC NewsPaxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment or provide a copy of the full settlement agreement.
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Gender-affirming care may include counseling, medications that block puberty, hormone therapy to produce physical changes or surgeries to transform chests and genitals, although those are rare for minors.
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NBC NewsThe care the medical associations recommend depends on the child’s age. The associations don’t recommend any medical intervention for children prior to puberty, but rather recommend allowing children to change their name or clothing. At puberty, some trans children might start puberty blockers, and then, in their teen years, hormone therapy. Surgeries for minors are rare and not recommended by the medical associations.
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The medical whistleblower initially remained anonymous, but he revealed his identity after the Biden-era DOJ targeted him in an investigation of the disclosed medical records. He was later prosecuted, but the case was dismissed shortly after President Donald Trump entered office last year.
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HuffPostIn 2024, President Joe Biden’s Justice Department indicted Haim, alleging that he violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by sharing sensitive patient information with Rufo. But during the first week of Trump’s return to office, federal prosecutors reversed course and dropped his case.
11 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 The Guardian US The state district judge Carl Folsom III granted an injunction requested by the parents of two teenagers who want to continue gender-transition treatment with medicines. Folsom’s decision halts the enforcement of a recently approved state law that banned such treatments.
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02 New York Post “It is deeply appalling to see (the hospital) capitulate to the relentless pressure campaigns of both AG Paxton and the Trump Administration to end this care and penalize physicians who faithfully and lawfully provided it,” said Karen Loewy, senior counsel at Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ advocacy group.
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03 NBC News It’s unclear who will lead or staff the clinic. The hospital declined to provide details about the terminated employees, saying, “Our top priority throughout this settlement discussion was around protecting our physicians.”
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04 HuffPost While the experience of people who detransition is complex, Republicans across state and federal governments have seized on the stories of a small group of detransition activists — bankrolled by conservative nonprofits — to push forward policy to restrict gender-affirming care for all.
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05 Breitbart Texas Children’s mission is to create a healthier future for women and children across Texas and the world. We are committed to serving all women and children, regardless of the ability to pay. We are proud to serve over 1 million patients annually — it is a privilege we hold in the highest regard.
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06 The Federalist Reached for comment on Friday, Haim sent The Federalist a GIF: Erin Friday, a parents’ rights activist in California who has battled “trans kids” madness in that state, told The Federalist that the detransition clinic is the particularly important part of the settlement. “Having worked with detransitioners for years,” she said, “I am thrilled that this settlement includes much-needed medical services for these harmed individuals.”
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07 Washington Times The $10 million settlement payment resolved those claims, with the Justice Department saying the hospital cooperated in the investigation and negotiated in good faith for the outcome.
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08 Associated Press The leader of the LGBTQ rights group Equality Texas said Texas Children’s “has lost its integrity and put politics over patients” and called the settlement “embarrassing.”
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09 Washington Examiner Most importantly, TCH agreed to never provide gender transitions to minors again.
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10 The Daily Wire In a statement to The Daily Wire, the hospital insisted that it had always been in compliance with the law and accused Paxton and the Justice Department of an “unconscionable campaign of mistruths and mischaracterizations related to gender affirming care.”
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