US judge blocks Justice Department bid for Rhode Island hospital transgender care records

By Nate Raymond

May 13 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked the Justice Department from forcing a Rhode Island hospital to hand over records on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, saying prosecutors acted in bad faith.

District Judge Mary McElroy ruled that Rhode Island Hospital, run by Brown Health, did not have to comply with a sweeping subpoena seeking a wide range of documents, including medical records of minors treated for gender dysphoria with drugs such as puberty blockers. 

The hospital and the state’s child advocate had asked the court to intervene ahead of a Thursday deadline, after a judge in Texas, at the Justice Department’s request, ordered the hospital to comply.

McElroy rejected the Justice Department’s claims that it was investigating alleged off-label use of FDA-approved drugs,  and said enforcing the subpoena would violate the privacy rights of minor patients.

She also sharply criticised the Justice Department in her order, saying it had misled the court and acted in bad faith.

“DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case,” McElroy wrote, adding that “the discrepancy between the honorable conduct expected of federal prosecutors and DOJs tactics in this case is unsettling.”

The dispute is part of a broader federal effort to scrutinise gender-affirming care for minors. The Justice Department has issued similar subpoenas to multiple providers, though courts have  quashed or narrowed some of them. 

President Donald Trump last year signed an executive order ending all federal funding or support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth, describing it as a “dangerous trend.” He directed the Justice Department to prioritize investigations of such treatments, which LGBT rights advocates and major medical groups support as important for the well-being of transgender youth.

Following setbacks in courts, the Justice Department shifted some of its probes to northern Texas, which McElroy said amounted to forum shopping.  A Texas judge had ordered Rhode Island Hospital to comply with the subpoena.

The DOJ’s latest move came on Monday, when NYU Langone Health said it received a grand jury subpoena from federal prosecutors in Texas seeking information on gender-affirming care for minors.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Additional reporting by Karen Sloan)