The Justice Department announced on Friday that Mount Sinai Health System, one of New York’s largest hospital systems, agreed to stop providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender surgeries to minors. It now must pay a monetary penalty and dedicate $2 million in free medical care to those suffering harmful consequences from those interventions.
“The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable medical providers that violate federal law and endanger children through so-called gender-affirming care,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press release on the settlement. “This agreement puts an end to these practices at Mount Sinai and provides meaningful relief for individuals who have already suffered harm.”
While the Justice Department did not reveal the size of the monetary penalty, it emphasized Mount Sinai’s “multimillion-dollar commitment to detransition care.” More Americans who underwent pediatric gender interventions have publicly rejected transgender identities and are speaking out about the harm they suffered.
The announcement follows similar settlements involving Texas Children’s Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Connecticut Children’s Hospital. The Justice Department credited Mount Sinai with remaining “cooperative, proactive, and solution-driven.”
The settlement marks one of the highest-profile victories in the Trump administration’s campaign against pediatric gender interventions and the first publicly announced settlement involving a major New York hospital system.
Pediatric gender interventions have faced setbacks recently. At least one detransitioner won a $2 million judgment in a medical malpractice suit. A Department of Health and Human Services study found little evidence of positive impacts from sex-rejecting procedures, while other studies show they can cause harm, from increased cancer risks to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts.
“A growing number of hospitals, like Mount Sinai, have recognized the medical scandal of sex-rejecting procedures,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said about the news. “While we are grateful when we secure resolutions to end this discredited practice and protect children, we must not and will not rest in our pursuit of justice for the victims it has left behind.”
Ryan Raybould, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, pledged that the Justice Department will “continue to use all of our civil and criminal tools to hold these actors and entities accountable when they violate federal law when providing this so-called care.” Raybould’s office assisted with the investigation.
The Justice Department opened a nationwide investigation into the child gender-transition industry in response to President Donald Trump’s order “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” The investigation examines potential violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the False Claims Act, and other federal health care laws, including fraudulent billing practices such as the use of false diagnosis codes to obtain payment from federal health care programs and private insurers.
