NEW YORK — A judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked federal prosecutors in Texas from accessing the medical records of transgender patients being treated at a New York hospital, saying the records are part of the government’s unwarranted efforts to “demonize and eradicate the entire population” of transgender people.
Justice Katherine Polk Failla issued the ruling a day after oral arguments in Manhattan, calling the government’s pursuit of the most sensitive medical records of a “specially vulnerable group” of patients treated over a six-year period “most egregious” and unconstitutional.
Faila accused the Justice Department of turning to a criminal investigation as a way to obtain nonpublic records about transgender people in their care after judges across the country repeatedly denied similar requests through civil means.
The Justice Department was searching for the records as part of an investigation into possible “counterfeit branding” of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Justice Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Even transgender adults have difficulty finding care: ‘I couldn’t do it on my own’
Plaintiffs’ attorney Omar Gonzalez Pagan called the ruling “a victory for fundamental privacy for my clients and all families like them across New York City.” He added in a statement that using a subpoena to obtain the identities and sensitive health information of transgender youth “should send a chill down the spine of every American.”
Failla issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed this month on behalf of minors, their parents, and young people who received medically necessary gender-affirming care in New York City.
NYU Langone Hospital was one of several facilities to receive a federal grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas on May 7, according to the complaint. The request for records regarding transgender patients came from a special agent with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Kansas City Division of Criminal Investigation.
Failla said at least 40 people were treated at NYU Langone alone between January 1, 2020, and May 5, 2026, the period covered by the subpoena.
Most major medical organizations say access to gender-affirming care is important for people with gender dysphoria. Transgender teens, parents and health care providers say the program is a lifesaver for children who become depressed or suicidal because their gender identity doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth.
Gender-affirming care includes counseling, drugs to block puberty, hormone therapy to cause physical changes, or surgery, but is rare for minors.
More hospitals are halting gender-affirming treatment for minors under pressure from the federal government
Twenty-seven states have restricted or prohibited gender-affirming care for minors, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2025 that they could do so under the U.S. Constitution.
President Donald Trump is actively trying to roll back transgender rights. During his second term, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to use its regulatory powers to block gender-affirming care for minors, and the Justice Department has demanded access to medical providers’ personal records and put pressure on hospitals, which often rely on federal funds to operate.
At the outset of his lengthy ruling for the parties participating in the e-litigation, Failla pointed out that in the first days of its existence, the “current administration” issued orders that “demonize and seek to eradicate the entire transgender population.”
Before concluding almost an hour later, Failla granted class action status to the plaintiffs and ruled that the Justice Department violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments with its subpoenas. He also set a hearing for July 8 to hear additional evidence before deciding whether to issue a preliminary injunction, the next step in the legal process after issuing a temporary restraining order Wednesday.
—Larry Neumeister
Associated Press writer Kimberly Krusi in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
