Judge blocks DOJ subpoenas for transgender patient
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- Judge Katherine Polk Failla temporarily blocked Texas federal prosecutors from obtaining medical records of transgender patients at New York hospitals, calling the government's pursuit unconstitutional and an effort to 'demonize and eradicate' transgender people.
- The Justice Department issued a May 7 grand jury subpoena to NYU Langone Hospitals from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas as part of a probe into potential 'misbranding' of FDA-approved drugs, covering at least 40 patients treated between Jan. 1, 2020 and May 5, 2026.
- Failla granted class-action status to the plaintiffs — minors, parents, and young adults who received gender-affirming care in NYC — and ruled the DOJ violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, setting a July 8 hearing on a preliminary injunction.
- Failla accused the DOJ of turning to criminal probes after judges nationwide repeatedly rejected similar civil requests, saying it appeared the government was 'rounding up' vulnerable individuals by obtaining their most personal information.
- Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, the plaintiffs' lawyer, called the ruling 'a victory for the basic privacy of our clients' and warned that using subpoenas to identify transgender youth 'should send chills down the spine of every American.'
- The broader legal landscape: 27 states have limited or banned gender-affirming care for minors, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2025 that such bans are constitutional.
Why it matters: The ruling halts a novel DOJ tactic — using criminal grand jury subpoenas to obtain sensitive medical records after civil courts nationwide blocked similar requests. With class-action status granted and a July 8 hearing on a preliminary injunction, the case becomes a major test of Fourth and Fifth Amendment limits on federal criminal probes targeting gender-affirming care providers and patients.
