Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) in Houston has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Texas to stop administering puberty blockers to minors. As part of this agreement, TCH will pay $10 million in penalties and establish a "detransition clinic" aimed at providing medical care to individuals who have undergone gender-transition procedures. This settlement concludes a lengthy investigation by Texas' Healthcare Program Enforcement Division, which determined that TCH improperly billed Texas Medicaid for certain gender-transition interventions.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the newly established clinic will be the first of its kind, focusing on reversing the effects of previous medical interventions deemed harmful. The clinic will offer services free of charge to patients for the first five years and aims to address the needs of those who feel they were adversely affected by gender-transition therapies.
In addition to setting up the detransition clinic, the settlement also requires TCH to terminate five doctors involved in providing gender-transition surgeries to minors. Paxton characterized the resolution as a significant shift away from what he refers to as "radical gender ideology."
In a statement, Texas Children's Hospital acknowledged the settlement, citing the need to protect its resources from ongoing litigation as a primary reason for the agreement. The hospital expressed intentions to refocus on its core mission of providing healthcare and advancing medical research.