A years-long controversy surrounding gender mutilation procedures at Texas Children’s Hospital have culminated in a sweeping settlement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that will force the hospital to pay $10 million, fire five doctors, halt “gender-transition” procedures, and create the nation’s first “Detransition Clinic.”
According to Paxton’s office, the settlement resolves allegations that Texas Children’s improperly billed Texas Medicaid for sex-change interventions using false diagnosis codes despite longstanding state policy prohibiting Medicaid coverage for such procedures.
Under the agreement, Texas Children’s will establish a multidisciplinary clinic intended to provide care to patients who previously underwent “gender-transition” procedures. The hospital will fully fund the clinic for at least five years, with services provided free of charge to patients.
The settlement also requires Texas Children’s to terminate and permanently revoke privileges for five physicians accused of performing the procedures. The hospital further agreed not to provide “gender-transition” services moving forward and to adopt new ethics and compliance measures.
As part of the agreement, Texas Children’s will amend its bylaws to automatically revoke privileges for physicians who violate Texas laws prohibiting medical interventions intended to “transition” children.
“Today is a monumental day in the fight to stop the radical transgender movement,” said Paxton. “This historic settlement reflects an institutional and fundamental cultural shift away from radical ‘gender’ ideology.”
“In addition to helping establish the first-ever Detransition Clinic and securing millions, this settlement will ensure that the deranged child mutilators who hurt our kids are fired and held accountable,” he added.
The controversy surrounding Texas Children’s began several years ago after the hospital publicly promoted pediatric sex-change interventions before later announcing it would discontinue the practices amid mounting public scrutiny.
The issue reignited in 2023 when whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim, then a resident physician at the hospital, disclosed documents indicating Texas Children’s was allegedly continuing to administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors despite prior public assurances that the program had ended.
Haim later became the target of a federal prosecution under the Biden administration over allegations that he improperly accessed patient records connected to the disclosures. Federal prosecutors accused him of obtaining patient information without authorization from the hospital’s electronic system.
A second whistleblower, nurse Vanessa Sivadge, later came forward with additional allegations that doctors at Texas Children’s had improperly billed Texas Medicaid for “gender-transition” procedures despite state policy explicitly excluding such treatments from coverage.
According to reporting by investigative journalist Christopher Rufo, Sivadge discovered that numerous teenage patients receiving “gender-transition” interventions through the hospital were Medicaid recipients under the care of physicians allegedly billing the state program.
Paxton’s office said the settlement was reached in coordination with President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice.
In a statement provided after publication of Paxton’s announcement, Texas Children’s said it settled the matter to avoid prolonged litigation while continuing to deny wrongdoing.
“Today, we made the difficult decision to settle with the Texas Attorney General and the Department of Justice, closing a chapter that has been wrought with falsehoods and distractions,” the hospital stated. “To be clear — we are settling to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation.”
Texas Children’s also pushed back on the underlying allegations, stating that internal and external reviews “continue to support the facts — we have been compliant with all laws.”
The hospital also characterized the controversy surrounding its “gender affirming care” program as an “unconscionable campaign of mistruths and mischaracterizations.”
