The U.S. Department of Justice agreed on January 26 to withdraw subpoenas seeking medical records of more than 3,000 transgender patients from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, ending a monthslong legal battle by families fighting the government’s effort to access their children’s medical information. Under the settlement filed in federal court Thursday, the department will withdraw requests for documents that identify patients or their families through 2029.
Neither the hospital nor the DOJ responded to requests for comment.
The decision marks a setback for the Trump administration’s effort to access medical records of transgender youth and restrict gender-affirming care at hospitals and schools. The same week, a federal judge in Maryland rejected a similar request for records from Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C.
The initial action
Last summer, the federal Department of Justice announced that it had sent subpoenas to more than 20 medical providers offering gender-affirming care for minors. The department said at the time it was investigating “healthcare fraud” and “false statements.”
The department never provided evidence of fraud, according to Khadijah Silver, director of Gender Justice & Health Equity at Lawyers for Good Government, one of the law firms representing families in the class action lawsuit.
“It was basically a fishing expedition. Without any probable cause, they did not have the authority to be seeking medical information,” Silver said.
Seven families whose children had received gender-affirming services at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles sued in November to quash the subpoena and protect their information.
The broader policy landscape
The subpoena is part of a broader Trump administration push to restrict gender-affirming care. Last year, the administration issued an executive order threatening to pull federal funding from medical institutions that provide such care. California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the summer seeking to block that order.
The federal government has also issued orders that recognize only two biological sexes and prevent transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports. A third order threatens federal funds for schools that support transgender youth.
Under this pressure, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles closed its Center for Transyouth Health and Development in July, leaving about 3,000 young patients in limbo. Other healthcare providers in the state have also scaled back gender-affirming services.
“The shutdown came despite efforts my office took over recent months to assure Children’s Hospital Los Angeles that they were protected and required to provide gender-affirming care,” Bonta said at the time.
Bonta’s office has filed amicus briefs opposing the Trump administration’s attempts to subpoena medical records at other hospitals including University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Implications for privacy rights
Silver said the settlement represents an important protection but acknowledged the broader challenge.
“This is one piece of a large, very important puzzle, but it does allow our clients to hold on to their basic legal right to medical privacy,” Silver said. Attorneys representing patients and families have moved to dismiss the case.
Federal courts in Los Angeles and Baltimore have now rejected similar government demands, signaling renewed scrutiny of the administration’s push for patient data. Whether those decisions will slow the broader policy assault remains to be seen.