Texas Children’s Hospital Opens Detransition Clinic
Texas Children’s Hospital has launched a new detransition clinic, marking it as a first in the nation. This development comes following a settlement reached earlier with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in May.
Paxton, who is also the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat from Texas, made the announcement regarding the clinic’s opening on Tuesday.
“BREAKING: The nation’s first-ever Detransition Clinic is now open as a result of my historic settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital,” he shared on social media.
According to a press release from his office, this new clinic is described as “a multidisciplinary clinic that provides medical care to patients who previously underwent gender-transition interventions.”
The clinic offers services to individuals up to the age of 21, while those over 21 can access specific obstetric and gynecologic care. Patients may receive treatments at various Texas Children’s locations based on their unique needs and the recommendations of their health care team.
The opening of the clinic is a significant aspect of the broader settlement, which also includes a $10 million payment from the hospital to address claims made by Paxton under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act. These claims were related to the hospital billing Texas Medicaid for “unallowable and illegal ‘gender-transition’ interventions.”
Additionally, several physicians lost their medical privileges due to accusations of performing inappropriate procedures on minors.
Previously, Texas Children’s Hospital had provided diverse services to minors experiencing gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers and hormone therapies to facilitate gender transition.
The settlement has also instituted a permanent ban on the hospital from conducting surgical procedures on minors that could lead to sterilization or the removal of healthy bodily tissues.
Although the hospital denied any wrongdoing concerning such procedures, these could include various surgeries like vaginoplasties, penectomies, and more.
Importantly, the agreement states that the first five years of patient care at the clinic will be provided at no cost.
“In accordance with my settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s first-ever Detransition Clinic is now open,” Paxton remarked. “I will continue to ensure that this clinic provides the care and support that victims of the radical left’s gender ideology deserve. Together, we will protect our children and defeat the dangerous ideology that has inflicted irreversible harm on innocent kids.”
The clinic’s launch coincides with updates from Rady Children’s Hospital in California, which recently agreed to continue offering certain “gender-affirming care” to minors following a court order amid ongoing litigation.
Prior to the order, the hospital was attempting to align with recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which had suggested an investigation into its practices, warning about potential impacts on Medicare and Medicaid funding.
In another development, Cleveland Clinic recently settled with the Department of Justice, resulting in a $308,000 fine for alleged false billing related to what the Trump administration categorizes as “sex-rejecting procedures.” They also committed $2 million to provide “restorative care” to those detransitioning and agreed to halt specific treatments for the next two decades.
