FTC sues leading transgender medical group over pediatric care statements

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and four states on Wednesday sued the leading medical organization focused on transgender health for allegedly making false and unsubstantiated claims to parents in order to sell pediatric medical transition services.

The FTC’s lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is the latest Trump administration effort to target institutions connected to gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth.

Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas joined the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas.

The FTC and its state partners allege that WPATH failed to disclose side effects and misrepresented the medical necessity of gender-affirming medical care for minors.

The lawsuit alleges that WPATH made these deceptive claims and deemed nearly all medical transition services as “medically necessary” to maximize the likelihood that insurers will pay for the pediatric transition procedures, including services that parents would otherwise be unable or unwilling to purchase without insurance, FTC director of public affairs Joe Simonson told reporters.

“WPATH professional members have profited immensely from the organization’s work, but this profit has come at the expense of children and their parents,” Simonson said.

For instance, the lawsuit alleges WPATH claims that medical transition helps to prevent children from committing suicide, even though its own clinicians acknowledge they lack evidence to support that claim.

“For decades, the FTC has taken action against entities that make deceptive and unsubstantiated health-related claims. The complaint filed today reflects that same long-standing mandate: when an entity makes a claim about a medical treatment, the claim must be truthful, evidence-based and not misleading,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.

In a statement, WPATH called the complaint baseless, and said it expects the court to find the administration is “acting out of pure retaliation,” just like in the earlier case.

“The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is not a medical provider and has no place interfering with the process of individualized medical decision-making. The FTC also does not have any jurisdiction over WPATH and its noncommercial speech. The state claims have similar factual and legal flaws,” the organization said.

The Trump administration has been steadily working to roll back access to gender-affirming care for minors, and has targeted for investigation groups that support healthcare providers who provide care to transgender people.

The FTC began investigating WPATH, the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics in January over their statements on gender-affirming care for minors.

The agency issued civil investigative demands seeking internal records, communications, financial information, conference materials and documents related to medical guidance on transgender care.

The organizations sued to block the probes, and were granted a preliminary injunction last month temporarily blocking the investigations. A federal judge ruled WPATH would likely be able to show the probe was a bid to ⁠retaliate against the group over its support for gender-affirming care.

Over the past two decades, the number of pediatric medical transition providers has multiplied rapidly, and the lawsuit alleges WPATH helped create the industry.

The first pediatric medical transition clinic in the United States opened in 2007. By 2015, there were at least 41 pediatric medical transition clinics across the United States, many embedded within major children’s hospitals and academic medical centers.

Gender-affirming care for minors is supported by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association.

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