Mount Sinai agrees to end youth gender-affirming care and pay millions to patients, DOJ says
The Mount Sinai Hospital System has agreed to stop providing gender-affirming care for youth and pay out millions of dollars to former patients, according to an agreement announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sept. 4. Under the agreement, which was the result of a DOJ investigation, the hospital system will stop providing all … Read More
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The Mount Sinai Hospital System has agreed to stop providing gender-affirming care for youth and pay out millions of dollars to former patients, according to an agreement announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sept. 4.
Under the agreement, which was the result of a DOJ investigation, the hospital system will stop providing all forms of gender-affirming care to youth, including administering puberty blockers, and it will "pay a monetary penalty and dedicate $2 million to providing free medical care" to individuals who the DOJ claims were "suffering harmful consequences" of gender-affirming care, according to a press release distributed by the DOJ late on Friday afternoon.
The DOJ's announcement contained inflammatory and false rhetoric about transgender individuals and even questioned the existence of gender-affirming care, putting the term in quotes and describing it as "so-called" care, even as major medical organizations continue to maintain that it is evidence-based and medically necessary.
In a lengthy written statement, a Mount Sinai spokesperson made the case that the hospital agreed to the settlement to protect the patient records.
"Mount Sinai was subpoenaed by a grand jury in the Northern District of Texas to produce, among other documents, the medical records of some of our patients who received gender-affirming care," the spokesperson said. "We entered into a settlement with the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Health and Human Services so that Mount Sinai will not be compelled to produce these highly sensitive patient records to the grand jury. The settlement is complex, but at its core reflects Mount Sinai’s commitment to safeguarding our patients’ confidential information and protecting our clinicians. The matter is ongoing in Texas, likely to end up in the United States Supreme Court, and likely would have required that we disclose our patient records."
[caption id="attachment_64871" align="aligncenter" width="691"]
The agreement between the Department of Justice and Mount Sinai was announced late on Friday, Sept. 4.Dean Moses[/caption]
Commenting on the agreement, Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a politically-charged statement with inaccurate language about transgender individuals, saying gender-affirming care puts children in danger.
“The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable medical providers that violate federal law and endanger children through so-called gender-affirming care,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “This agreement puts an end to these practices at Mount Sinai and provides meaningful relief for individuals who have already suffered harm.”
According to the DOJ, similar agreements have been made with the Texas Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Connecticut Children's Hospital.
Mount Sinai, in its statement, pushed back on the notion that the settlement indicates that the hospital "did something wrong by providing gender-affirming care."
"In fact, the settlement contains an express denial of any wrongdoing on Mount Sinai’s part," Mount Sinai added. "We entered into this settlement to protect our patients’ privacy and to allow our physicians to remain focused on our mission of serving our patients and communities with the highest-quality, world-class care."
The agreement comes more than a year after the hospital system became one of multiple providers, including NYU Langone, to restrict care for transgender youth in New York City and other parts of the country in response to pressure from the White House.
Early last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which called to bar federal funding for gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19 and directed the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary to “take all appropriate actions to end” gender-affirming care, “including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions.”
[caption id="attachment_64874" align="aligncenter" width="691"]
The outside of Mount Sinai is seen in Manhattan on Sept. 4, 2026.Dean Moses[/caption]
The new agreement was announced one day after New York Attorney General Letitia James led New York State in joining more than a dozen states in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a bid to block a newly-finalized White House policy barring states from receiving Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for gender-affirming care for youth.
A spokesperson for James declined to comment on Mount Sinai's agreement with the DOJ, but said the office is reviewing the agreement.
Even as the DOJ announces new agreements, it remains embroiled in an ongoing legal battle over the records of trans youth who have received gender-affirming care. On Aug. 26, three-judge panel of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan denied the Department of Justice’s request to stay a lower court order that shielded the records of trans youth from the Trump administration.
In February, NYU Langone shut down its youth gender-affirming care program, citing "the current regulatory environment" and "the recent departure of our medical director," prompting fierce backlash from elected officials who accused the provider of caving to the president.
Kei Williams, the executive director of a statewide LGBTQ organization known as New Pride Agenda, warned that such agreements threaten access to gender-affirming care.
"From Western New York to New York City, more and more providers are ceasing gender-affirming care for young people," Williams said in a written statement after the agreement was announced. "The end result will be a shadow ban on care access in a state that has promised transgender New Yorkers and their families that they would be protected within our borders.”
When Gay City News asked Mayor Zohran Mamdani for comment for this story, his office instead provided a statement from Taylor Brown, the director of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.
“Mount Sinai’s settlement with the U.S. Justice Department is deeply troubling," Brown said. "By attacking gender-affirming hormone therapy for minors, vilifying gender-affirming care, and promoting so-called ‘detransition services,’ the federal government is politicizing the practice of medicine and jeopardizing access to life-saving healthcare services that should remain at the discretion of providers, patients, and their families."
Brown added: "For many young people living with gender dysphoria, hormone therapy as gender-affirming care is a lifeline, and New York City will not leave young people without the care they need. Earlier this year in the face of federal attacks, the Mamdani administration invested $15 million to safeguard access to gender-affirming care, and our City’s hospitals continue to provide this lifesaving care to those who need it.”
The agreement between the Department of Justice and Mount Sinai was announced late on Friday, Sept. 4.Dean Moses[/caption]
Commenting on the agreement, Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a politically-charged statement with inaccurate language about transgender individuals, saying gender-affirming care puts children in danger.
“The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable medical providers that violate federal law and endanger children through so-called gender-affirming care,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “This agreement puts an end to these practices at Mount Sinai and provides meaningful relief for individuals who have already suffered harm.”
According to the DOJ, similar agreements have been made with the Texas Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Connecticut Children's Hospital.
Mount Sinai, in its statement, pushed back on the notion that the settlement indicates that the hospital "did something wrong by providing gender-affirming care."
"In fact, the settlement contains an express denial of any wrongdoing on Mount Sinai’s part," Mount Sinai added. "We entered into this settlement to protect our patients’ privacy and to allow our physicians to remain focused on our mission of serving our patients and communities with the highest-quality, world-class care."
The agreement comes more than a year after the hospital system became one of multiple providers, including NYU Langone, to restrict care for transgender youth in New York City and other parts of the country in response to pressure from the White House.
Early last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which called to bar federal funding for gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19 and directed the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary to “take all appropriate actions to end” gender-affirming care, “including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions.”
[caption id="attachment_64874" align="aligncenter" width="691"] The outside of Mount Sinai is seen in Manhattan on Sept. 4, 2026.Dean Moses[/caption]
The new agreement was announced one day after New York Attorney General Letitia James led New York State in joining more than a dozen states in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a bid to block a newly-finalized White House policy barring states from receiving Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for gender-affirming care for youth.
A spokesperson for James declined to comment on Mount Sinai's agreement with the DOJ, but said the office is reviewing the agreement.
Even as the DOJ announces new agreements, it remains embroiled in an ongoing legal battle over the records of trans youth who have received gender-affirming care. On Aug. 26, three-judge panel of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan denied the Department of Justice’s request to stay a lower court order that shielded the records of trans youth from the Trump administration.
In February, NYU Langone shut down its youth gender-affirming care program, citing "the current regulatory environment" and "the recent departure of our medical director," prompting fierce backlash from elected officials who accused the provider of caving to the president.
Kei Williams, the executive director of a statewide LGBTQ organization known as New Pride Agenda, warned that such agreements threaten access to gender-affirming care.
"From Western New York to New York City, more and more providers are ceasing gender-affirming care for young people," Williams said in a written statement after the agreement was announced. "The end result will be a shadow ban on care access in a state that has promised transgender New Yorkers and their families that they would be protected within our borders.”
When Gay City News asked Mayor Zohran Mamdani for comment for this story, his office instead provided a statement from Taylor Brown, the director of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.
“Mount Sinai’s settlement with the U.S. Justice Department is deeply troubling," Brown said. "By attacking gender-affirming hormone therapy for minors, vilifying gender-affirming care, and promoting so-called ‘detransition services,’ the federal government is politicizing the practice of medicine and jeopardizing access to life-saving healthcare services that should remain at the discretion of providers, patients, and their families."
Brown added: "For many young people living with gender dysphoria, hormone therapy as gender-affirming care is a lifeline, and New York City will not leave young people without the care they need. Earlier this year in the face of federal attacks, the Mamdani administration invested $15 million to safeguard access to gender-affirming care, and our City’s hospitals continue to provide this lifesaving care to those who need it.” 
