The New York State Attorney General has ordered New York City-based NYU Langone Health to restore its transgender youth health program, less than two weeks after the hospital said it was discontinuing the program for adolescents.
“You are hereby advised to immediately resume all service offerings as they had before the change in policy and to make medically necessary puberty-blocking medications and hormone therapies available for patients under 19 who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” an official with Attorney General Letitia James’ office wrote in a Feb. 25 letter to NYU Langone, according to a March 2 report from The New York Times.
Five things to know:
1. On Feb. 17, NYU Langone confirmed it had closed its transgender youth program, which provided puberty-blocking medication and hormone treatments to adolescents. In a statement at the time, the hospital cited “the current regulatory environment” as a factor in its decision to discontinue such services.
2. In its letter to NYU Langone, the state attorney general’s office indicated that the closure may violate New York anti-discrimination laws by prohibiting a certain group of patients from receiving treatments that others still have access to. The letter notes that puberty blockers and hormone treatments are still available for pediatric patients who are not transgender.
3. The letter also directs NYU Langone to notify the attorney general’s office that it has complied within 10 days and threatens regulatory action if it does not comply. Specifically, the letter mentions the potential for an investigation. A spokesperson for NYU Langone declined to respond to the Times‘ request for comment. Becker’s has also reached out to the system and will update the report if more information becomes available.
4. Many hospitals and health systems across the country have stopped providing gender-related care for patients younger than 19 in response to pressure from the Trump administration. In December, HHS proposed new rules to pull federal funding from any hospital that provides gender transition care to minors.
5. The attorney general’s office, however, stated that the proposed rules hadn’t gone into effect.
“NYU Langone’s change in policy is self-imposed,” the letter states, according to the Times “There has been no change in federal law to require the cessation of medically necessary transgender health care.”
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