NYU Langone agrees with DOJ to end youth gender-affirming care
Two weeks to the day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) reached an agreement with Mount Sinai to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors, the department announced similar settlements on Sept. 18 with NYU Langone and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Like in the Mount Sinai case, the DOJ said the latest announcement … Read More
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Two weeks to the day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) reached an agreement with Mount Sinai to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors, the department announced similar settlements on Sept. 18 with NYU Langone and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Like in the Mount Sinai case, the DOJ said the latest announcement follows an “investigation” into NYU Langone and UPMC over what it described as “potential violations of federal law” for providing youth gender-affirming care. Under the settlement, the hospitals will pay "a monetary amount as part of the resolutions," according to the DOJ, with NYU Langone paying $8.5 million and UPMC paying $950,000.
Both of the providers who settled with the DOJ on Sept. 18 had already stopped providing gender-affirming care to youth in response to pressure from the Trump administration, which has continued its second-term campaign to restrict care for trans individuals 19 years of age.
NYU Lagnone first started restricting youth gender-affirming care in early 2025 after the president signed an executive order seeking to ban the use of federal funds for providers delivering gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 19. The order also directed the Health and Human Services secretary to “take all appropriate actions to end” gender-affirming care, “including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions.”
NYU Langone subsequently announced on Feb. 18 of this year that it had shut down its youth gender-affirming care program, citing "the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment." The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center halted gender-affirming care for youth in April of 2025.
Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a politically-charged statement that misrepresented and smeared gender-affirming care, which is widely accepted as safe, effective, and medically necessary.
“The Department of Justice is fighting to protect our nation’s children and working tirelessly to reach agreements with hospitals to end so-called ‘gender affirming care’ for minors,” Blanche said. “Today’s resolutions send a clear message: hospitals that target children in these practices and then fraudulently obtain payment for the procedures will be held to account.”
In a lengthy written statement, NYU Langone defended the agreement by claiming that it removes “the threat that NYU Langone would have to provide the confidential information previously demanded about patients under 18 who received gender-affirming care at our institution.”
“NYU Langone has not entered into this settlement because of any wrongdoing and has affirmatively denied any wrongdoing or liability in the agreement,” the hospital stated. “We believe this resolution is in the best interests of our patients and their families, protecting them as well as our providers and the institution from prolonged litigation. It allows us to remain focused on our mission of delivering top-quality patient care, advancing medical research, and educating future physicians.”
NYU Langone further clarified that the agreement does not impact its pediatric mental health care programs or care for patients who are at least 18 years of age.
Bronx Councilmember Justin Sanchez, who co-chairs the Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, described NYU Langone's "lack of a will to fight for their patients and their community" as "very disappointing,” but said “the fact of the matter is, our city is still fighting, strategically and ferociously for every transgender child and we are successfully making sure they are not left behind."
“As co-chair of Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus, I am working every day with organizations and health care providers who are on the ground working over time to fill the widening gap in coverage for this essential health care for our youth,” Sanchez said.
Kei Williams, the executive director of the statewide LGBTQ organization New Pride Agenda, said the growing list of providers caving to the Trump administration amounts to an "encroaching shadow ban for transgender youth and their families" in which care remains legal but inaccessible in New York. Williams called on New York State to step up in response.
“New York has promised transgender people and their families that they will be protected here,” Williams said. “That promise means little if the state’s largest healthcare institutions can continue withdrawing care as they cower to a political agenda further isolating a community worth protecting.”
