Texas Children's Hospital Opens Detransition Clinic Following State Settlement

Texas Children's Hospital has launched a new detransition clinic in Austin, a facility created to fulfill terms of a settlement with the Texas Attorney General's office. The agreement, reached in May, resolved claims that the hospital improperly billed the state's Medicaid program for gender-transition procedures.

The clinic operates as a multidisciplinary unit providing care to individuals who previously underwent gender-transition treatments. According to the state, the facility serves patients up to age 21 with general detransition care. For patients older than 21, the clinic provides specific obstetric and gynecologic services related to detransition.

Under the financial terms of the settlement, the hospital must fully fund all services provided by the clinic for the first five years. The hospital was also required to pay a total of $10 million to resolve the dispute. Of that sum, more than $8 million was directed to the state. An additional $1.7 million was paid to whistleblower Vanessa Sivadge.

The legal action was brought under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act. Attorney General Ken Paxton described the opening of the clinic as the nation's first detransition clinic. "In accordance with my settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s first-ever Detransition Clinic is now open," Paxton said. He added that the clinic is designed to provide support to what he called victims of radical gender ideology.

The settlement included administrative penalties beyond the monetary payments and the clinic's creation. The hospital permanently revoked the privileges of five doctors who are currently associated with the institution or were previously employed there. The hospital is also required to promote the existence of the clinic on its official website.