DOJ loses lawsuit against CHOP

Plus HHS releases its report on "GAC" for minors

A federal judge has blocked the Department of Justice (DOJ) request for medical records of minors seeking/receiving sex-trait alteration (a.k.a. “GAC”). Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) runs one of the largest sex-trait alteration clinics for minors in the USA.

In a 54-page opinion, [Judge] Kearney found that the medical records sought by the U.S. Department of Justice were “beyond the authority granted by Congress” under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and that “the heightened privacy interests of children and their families substantially outweighs the Department’s need to know” such confidential and sensitive information.

Neither CHOP nor the DOJ responded to a request for comment late Friday.

In addition to protecting the identities of patients, Kearney also denied the part of the DOJ subpoena seeking documents related to how doctors make decisions in prescribing medications that help patients to have a body that matches their gender identity, including details such as “clinical indications, diagnoses, or assessments.” Kearney also blocked federal investigators from obtaining documents related to “informed consent, patient intake, and parent or guardian authorization for minor patients.”

DOJ also sued the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), but Your Author could find no information about the outcome, if any, of this case.

This is a major setback in prosecuting alleged insurance fraud from practitioners of sex-trait alteration.

Related: Trans youth [sic] seek alternatives to UPMC.

In other major news, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released its anticipated report Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria. This report, whose authors are fully identified with names, affiliations, and brief biographies, has been called the USA’s Cass Report.

In their Foreword, the authors write:

Nevertheless, the “gender-affirming” model of care includes irreversible endocrine and surgical interventions on minors with no physical pathology. These interventions carry risk of significant harms including infertility/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret, and there has been inadequate research into the frequency and severity of these harms. Meanwhile, systematic reviews of the evidence have revealed deep uncertainty about the purported benefits of these interventions.

The controversies surrounding the medical transition of minors extend beyond scientific debate; they are deeply cultural and political. Public discourse is dominated by intensely polarizing narratives. Some view the medical transition of minors as a pressing civil rights issue, while others regard it as a profound medical failure and a sobering reminder that even modern medicine is vulnerable to serious error. In the midst of this highly charged debate, children and adolescents, and their families—who seek only to support their flourishing—have found themselves caught between competing perspectives. They require, and are entitled to, accurate, evidence-based information to guide their decisions.

This Review of evidence and best practices was commissioned pursuant to Executive Order 14187, signed on January 28, 2025. It is not a clinical practice guideline, and it does not issue legislative or policy recommendations. Rather, it seeks to provide the most accurate and current information available regarding the evidence base for the treatment of gender dysphoria in this population, the state of the relevant medical field in the United States, and the ethical considerations associated with the treatments offered.

Reactions from STAT and LGB Courage Coalition.

Today’s lagniappe: