A federal judge has canceled a Justice Department subpoena seeking records from QueerDoc, a telemedicine service that prescribes medications and provides consultation for gender-affirming care in 10 states.
The Justice Department subpoenaed QueerDoc on June 11, demanding personnel information, patient identifying documents, patient medical records, billing records, insurance claims, and communications with drug companies. It was among more than 20 such subpoenas issued.
On the same day, the Justice Department’s Civil Division released a memo saying it would “prioritize investigations of physicians, hospitals, drug companies, and other appropriate entities” for “potential violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and other laws” regarding drugs used in gender-affirming medical care, and “potential violations of the False Claims Act by health care providers who circumvent state prohibitions on treating gender dysphoria by intentionally submitting Medicaid applications with false diagnoses.” code. ”
Related: President Trump seeks to end gender-affirming care for U.S. transgender youth: Reports
These investigations stem from President Donald Trump’s executive order recognizing only male and female genders as assigned at birth, condemning gender-affirming care for minors as a “stain on the history of this country” that “must end,” and threatening federal funding to provide such care. He also directed the Department of Justice to investigate the provider. In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo saying the Justice Department would “act decisively to protect children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of care.” She used the same word about amputation in a later article. press release. That came a day after QueerDoc filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to quash the subpoena and seal the court proceedings, according to the court.
“The Department of Justice issued an inflammatory press release the day after QueerDoc filed these complaints declaring that medical professionals had ‘dismembered children because of a distorted ideology,’ effectively invalidating claims of investigative confidentiality while simultaneously attempting to sway public sentiment against health care providers like QueerDoc,” Judge Jamal Whitehead wrote in the paper. judgment, It came out on Monday. “Such actions appear to have been calculated to intimidate rather than investigate.”
“The question before the court is whether the Justice Department can use its executive subpoena power to accomplish what the government cannot accomplish by law: health care abolition, which Washington and other states clearly protect.”The answer is no. She noted that gender-affirming care is supported by major medical organizations and many courts.
Whitehead added: “When a federal agency issues a subpoena not to investigate violations of law, but to intimidate health care providers into giving up legitimate health care, it exceeds its legitimate authority and abuses the judicial process.”
He rejected the motion to block the proceedings because “despite legitimate security concerns, transparency in the judicial process remains paramount when challenging executive authority,” he wrote.
Related: What is gender-affirming care, who uses it, and do they regret it?
Queerdoc welcomed the ruling. “The court recognized that government power cannot be used to intimidate health care providers or violate the confidentiality of patients seeking medically necessary care,” the group said in a statement. Statement on website. “This is a victory not just for QueerDoc, but for all clinicians and patients fighting for the right to safe private healthcare.”
The subpoena is “a calculated attempt by the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi to weaponize the Department of Justice against transgender people and the clinicians who care for them,” the statement said. The group said QueerDoc did not submit patient information to the Justice Department and treatment was not interrupted.
federal judge in massachusetts Dismissed a similar Justice Department subpoena. He was taken to Boston Children’s Hospital in September, and the department is appealing the case. politiko I will report it. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are also fighting in court over Justice Department subpoenas regarding gender-affirming care.
questioner politiko In response to a request for comment on the QueerDoc ruling, the Department of Justice issued the following statement: “As Attorney General Bondi has made clear, the Department of Justice will use every legal and law enforcement tool available to protect innocent children from being mutilated in the name of ‘care.’
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
