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Settlement Creates Clinic
Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston agreed to stop administering puberty blockers to children, pay $10 million in penalties, and open a “detransition clinic” after a sweeping probe from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the state of Texas.
“agreed to stop administering puberty blockers to children, pay $10 million in penalties”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the resolution brings to a close a years-long investigation by Texas' Healthcare Program Enforcement Division that concluded TCH fraudulently billed Texas Medicaid for “unallowable and illegal ‘gender-transition’ interventions,” and he said the hospital would establish the first-ever multidisciplinary clinic designed to provide medical care to patients subjected to 'gender-transition' procedures.
NBC News reported that as part of the deal, Texas Children’s must create the country’s “first-ever detransition clinic,” terminate five doctors who previously provided transition care to children, and provide detransition care for free for the first five years of the clinic’s operation.
The hospital said it agreed to the settlement after cooperating throughout the three-year investigation, during which it produced more than 5 million documents and conducted multiple investigations of its own, and it said, “To be clear – we are settling to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation.”
Competing Voices, Same Deal
Paxton framed the settlement as a cultural and legal turning point, saying, “Today is a monumental day in the fight to stop the radical transgender movement,” and he added that it would ensure “the deranged child mutilators who hurt our kids are fired and held accountable.”
Texas Children’s Hospital characterized its own settlement as a response to litigation pressure, saying in a statement, “we are settling to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation,” and NBC News reported a hospital spokesperson said the detransition clinic would “formalize the supportive, multidisciplinary services we already deliver to all patients who need our care.”
The Guardian reported that the Justice Department said the settlement was the first resolution in its investigations into gender-affirming care for youth, and it quoted acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying, “The [justice department] will use every weapon at its disposal to end the destructive and discredited practice of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ for children.”
In contrast, Alejandra Caraballo, a prominent transgender civil rights attorney, criticized the move on Bluesky, writing, “Just complete chicken--- stuff by the general counsel and admin at Texas Children's,” while detransitioner Chloe Cole praised it on X, writing, “What an incredible moment for the movement to end child mutilation.”
What’s Next for Care
Under the settlement terms described by NBC News, Texas Children’s must provide detransition care for free for the first five years, while officials have not detailed exactly what the detransition clinic will offer.
“Officials have not detailed exactly what the detransition clinic will offer”
NBC News also reported that the hospital declined to provide details about the terminated employees and said its “top priority throughout this settlement discussion was around protecting our physicians,” while the hospital maintained it has followed all laws.
The Guardian said the hospital additionally agreed to no longer provide youth with puberty blockers, hormonal therapy or surgery that helps them align with their gender identity, and it reported that the settlement came after a Texas federal prosecutor subpoenaed several medical institutions, including a major hospital network in New York City, for information about minor patients who had received gender-affirming care over the past six years.
Houston Public Media reported that Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the settlement in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice, and it said the Texas Children’s Hospital system was required to pay $10 million for billing Texas Medicaid for prior gender transition treatments and to fire and permanently cut ties with five doctors who performed such treatments.
