US DOJ Seeks Transgender Patient and Provider Information from Leading Pediatric Hospital

DOJ has subpoenaed Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to obtain 15 categories of information, including patient names and dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers. (DOJ Office of Public Affairs (rev. July 9); KFF Health News (Aug. 21); Bloomberg Law (Aug. 20); NY Times (Aug. 20)). 

The KFF articles reports that DOJ also seeks "billing documents, communication with drug manufacturers and data such as . . . emails, Zoom recordings, 'every writing or record of whatever type' doctors have made, voicemails and text messages on encrypted platforms dating to January 2020 — before hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender transition surgery had been banned anywhere in the United States."

As reported by the Washington Post (Aug. 20):

Jacob T. Elberg, a former federal prosecutor specializing in health care fraud, said Bondi’s statement suggests the government “is using its investigative powers to target medical providers based on a disagreement about medical treatment rather than violations of the law.”

When she announced the subpoenas last month, AG Pam Bondi said DOJ was seeking to hold “medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology” accountable. Considering the broad professional support for supportive treatments, you have to ask whose "warped ideology" is behind the subpoenas.

The Bloomberg Law story provides a good collection of articles on the Trump administration's escalating war on transgender medicine:

• Trump Signals Gender Overhaul While Health Policy Changes Wait; Jan. 21, 2025,
• Some Hospitals Pausing Youth Transgender Care Are Skirting Law; Feb. 20, 2025
• HHS Doubts Benefit of Gender-Affirming Care for Children (2); May 1, 2025
• Trump FTC Chair Looks for Deception in Gender-Affirming Care (2); July 9, 2025
• Trump Actions on Gender Care for Minors Draw New States Lawsuit (1); Aug. 1, 2025  

Access to these pieces may be blocked, but Bloomberg Law has this 9-minute YouTube video that covers the same material.

Recall also that the Supreme Court earlier this year upheld Tennessee's broad ban on treatments for transgender minors (HealthLawBlog post here). This a tough time to be a pediatric endocrinologist, let alone a transgender minor.