Texas hospital to create detransition clinic after lawsuit

The state reached a legal settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital requiring the hospital to establish a clinic for reversing genital surgery and other interventions that changed people’s sexual characteristics. The Houston hospital will fund all of the clinic’s treatments for the first five years, making them free for patients, according to a Friday statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The settlement ended a three-year legal battle with one of the largest children’s hospitals in the United States. The hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The settlement also included the U.S. Justice Department, which was investigating whether the Texas Children’s Hospital violated federal law.

What else does the settlement require? The hospital must reimburse Texas Medicaid $10 million related to gender transition procedures for minors that it carried out after the state banned them in 2023. The hospital allegedly used false diagnostic codes to continue receiving Medicaid funding for such procedures, Paxton said. The settlement resolves the allegations made by the state.

Texas Children’s also agreed to fire and never rehire or credential five doctors who were involved in transgender procedures, Paxton said. He did not provide information on the doctors’ identities. The hospital would also change its bylaws to automatically revoke privileges for any physician who participated in transgender procedures for minors, he said.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Texas’ recent lawsuit against the city of Houston.