Lurie Children's Hospital pauses gender-affirming meds for new patients under 18 after feds threaten probe

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital is among several hospitals being referred by Trump administration officials for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services office of inspector general, prompting them to further restrict gender-affirming care.

Health and Human Services General Counsel Mike Stuart announced the referral for investigation on social media Jan. 15, naming five other hospitals: Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware; Boston Children’s Hospital; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; New York University Langone Health; and Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Oregon.

In a statement to WBEZ on Tuesday afternoon, Lurie Children’s Hospital said it won't give any prescriptions to patients younger than 18 who would be new to gender-affirming care at its hospital, including if they had previously been prescribed the care at another hospital. Lurie has one of the oldest gender-affirming programs in the country.

“Actions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including their announcement on January 15th of a referral for an investigation of Lurie Children’s, have resulted in this decision,” hospital spokesperson Julianne Bardele wrote. “This threatens our ability to care for all of our patients. … We remain committed to our patients and families and their ability to access expert medical care.”

Bardele declined to confirm whether the HHS inspector general's office is investigating Lurie.

Under the Trump administration, the federal agency has claimed gender-affirming care is “harmful,” putting it at odds with dozens of major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.

Some Trump administration moves have led many hospitals across the nation, including in the Chicago area, to cut treatment for thousands of patients out of fear of reprisals from the federal government, including Lurie’s.

Early last year, Lurie Children’s stopped performing gender-affirming surgeries for patients younger than 19 after President Donald Trump signed several executive orders targeting the care, prompting protests from patients and advocates. Many of Lurie’s patients were referred for surgery to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which then canceled their appointments.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has signed on to several lawsuits with his counterparts against the administration for its various attacks on the care, including prior threats of federal investigations into local hospitals; threats to pull Title IX funding from schools, prisons and other programs; and pushing to wipe out Medicare and Medicaid funding for institutions that provide the care.

In a lawsuit filed by Raoul and 11 other attorneys general this month, they said the purpose of the administration’s “discriminatory” attempts to restrict gender-affirming care “is to exclude transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and gender-diverse individuals and make denial of their existence official policy.”