Texas Children’s will create ‘detransition clinic’ to settle DOJ and state investigation

Key Points:

• Texas Children’s Hospital has agreed to create the nation’s first-ever detransition clinic as part of a settlement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, concluding a multi-year investigation into its transgender youth treatment program.
• The hospital will also pay $10 million to resolve allegations of improper Medicaid billing for transition care, terminate five doctors who provided such care, and offer free detransition care for the clinic’s first five years.
• Details about the detransition clinic’s services and staffing remain unclear, with the hospital stating it will formalize existing supportive services for patients needing care.
• The settlement reflects Texas’s broader crackdown on gender-affirming care for minors, including Paxton’s declaration that such care constitutes child abuse and the state’s enactment of a ban on transition care for minors.
• Medical experts and transgender advocates criticize the settlement, arguing it politicizes healthcare and undermines evidence-based gender-affirming care, which is supported by major medical associations and rarely leads to regret among patients.