Judge blocks subpoenas in transgender care investigation at NY hospitals

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Justice Department (DOJ) prosecutors from accessing the medical records of transgender individuals treated at New York City hospitals.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, of the Southern District of New York, granted the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order against the DOJ, thereby barring the Trump administration from seeking, receiving, using, retaining or disseminating any identifying or sensitive information pertaining to the plaintiffs.

A spokesperson for the department declined to comment on Failla’s ruling.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and aligned groups filed suit earlier this month against the subpoenas, on behalf of three families with transgender youth and two transgender young adults who began care when they were minors.

Chase Strangio, the co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Rights Project, said the group is “thankful” for Failla’s ruling.

“For the past year, the Trump administration has not only decided that it knows better than these families and their doctors what their medical needs are, but has also sought to obtain troves of sensitive information about patients in New York,” Strangio added in a release.

“We will continue to fight on behalf of these families and the fundamental liberty of all transgender New Yorkers and those who come here to seek needed medical care.”

In May, the DOJ issued subpoenas to New York University (NYU) Langone Hospitals — under the authority of a federal grand jury in Fort Worth, Texas. The administration asked the health system to turn over the identities and health information of any patients who received medical treatment or gender dysphoria when they were under the age of 18 from its hospitals.

The subpoenas applied to patients who received treatment from January 2020 through last month. The DOJ issued the demands as part of the Food and Drug Administration’s probe into drugs used for gender-affirming care.

But Failla, an appointee of former President Obama, said the DOJ violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and their rights to doctor-patient confidentiality under New York law.

She also granted their request to expand the case to a class-action lawsuit. Under the recent ruling, all individuals who received medical treatment for gender dysphoria at New York City hospitals — including NYU Langone and hospitals within the Mount Sinai Health System — from January 2020 through May 5 of this year are included in the class.

Failla said in court Wednesday that there are at least 40 individuals treated at NYU Langone alone during the aforementioned period covered by the subpoenas, The Associated Press reported.

The hospital’s employees, meanwhile, are barred by the judge’s ruling from “disclosing or producing” identifying or sensitive health information pertaining to the class of plaintiffs.

Failla set a July 8 hearing to listen to additional evidence before she decides whether to impose a longer-lasting preliminary injunction in the case, according to the AP.