Texas sues doctor for illegal transgender prescriptions for over 20 minors

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday accused a Dallas-area doctor of violating state law by giving underage patients high-dose cross-sex hormones in an attempt to change their biological sex. The lawsuit alleged that the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Dr. May Lau prescribed testosterone to at least 21 females as young as 14. The doctor also allegedly used inaccurate diagnoses and billing codes to conceal these unlawful prescriptions, Paxton added.

Texas law protects minors from receiving medical interventions for so-called gender transitions, including surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments. The state aims to protect kids from these unscientific medical interventions that have devastating and irreversible effects, Paxton said in the Thursday release. Doctors who keep pushing these harmful drugs and treatments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, he added. The lawsuit offered precise accounts of Lau prescribing testosterone in the form of pills and topical gel to patients after the law took effect. If guilty, Lau would lose her state medical license.

Has Lau’s employer commented on the issue? WORLD reached out to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for comment and did not receive an immediate response. WORLD also reached out to two Children’s Health medical centers that authorized Lau to practice out of their facilities. The health and wellbeing of patients is the highest priority, and all state health laws are adhered to, the medical group said in a statement to WORLD. Children’s Health directed all other inquiries to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Dig deeper: Read Catherine Gripp’s report on another Texas doctor facing litigation over transgender treatment records.