Washington, D.C.-based Children’s National, which operates two hospitals, does not have to fulfill the Justice Department’s request for patient records related to gender-affirming care, a federal judge ruled Jan. 21.
The order, issued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, aligns with other federal court rulings that have blocked the government’s attempt to obtain gender-affirming care-related medical records from Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Unlike other lawsuits challenging the Justice Department’s subpoenas served on more than a dozen U.S. hospitals, Children’s National did not file a lawsuit. After the Justice Department served the subpoena in June, the system stopped prescribing gender-affirming medications in late August due to “escalating legal and regulatory risks.”
Rather, eight families representing children who had received gender-affirming care at Children’s National since 2020 filed the lawsuit. In her ruling, Judge Julie Rubin said the subpoena served on the pediatric system “was not issued for a legitimate governmental purpose, is not limited in scope to any legitimate purpose, and is oppressive in its breadth.”
One day after the ruling for Children’s National, the Justice Department agreed to drop its subpoena for gender-affirming patient records from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles through 2029, according to court documents.
Read more about how national gender-affirming care restrictions have affected health systems, here.
The post Judge blocks subpoena for Children’s National gender-affirming care records appeared first on Becker's Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.
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