The Cleveland Clinic has entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), pledging not to perform transgender procedures on minors. The agreements, made in coordination between the DOJ and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, also include a landmark commitment of $2 million to provide care for detransitioners.
This settlement is part of the DOJ’s ongoing investigation into “violations of federal law in connection with sex-rejecting procedures on minors,” according to a June 5 press release. The department found that the Cleveland Clinic had “mis-coded Medicaid billing to disguise transgender procedures on minors,” Yost said.
The Cleveland Clinic promised to cease all sex-rejecting procedures on minors for 20 years, including cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and transgender surgeries. These procedures, along with others, have been shown to have extremely negative effects on children. Puberty blockers, for example, may cause future infertility and loss of bone density.
In addition to the list of side effects, studies also show that most children diagnosed with gender dysphoria grow out of it by adulthood. Even so-called “social transition” — identifying as the opposite sex in a social context regardless of medical intervention — has not been shown to improve mental health outcomes for children.
The Cleveland Clinic has also promised to allocate millions to care for “individuals living with the harmful consequences of such misguided medical interventions performed on them as children and adolescents,” otherwise known as detransitioners, regardless of whether they are able to pay.
This is now the second settlement of its kind. The DOJ announced on May 15 that it had come to a resolution with Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH). The hospital pledged to end so-called “gender affirming care” and to pay millions in damages, including funding for detransitioners.
These investigations are part of a larger trend of Americans rejecting trans ideology. A recent Gallup poll found that a record low percentage of Americans — 38 percent — find “changing one’s gender” morally acceptable. In the same poll, 57 percent of respondents said doing so was morally wrong.
Many detransitioners have also been taking legal action. A woman in New York state recently won $2 million in a medical malpractice suit over a double mastectomy she had at 16 years old. Detransitioner and activist Chloe Cole has also pursued legal action over transgender interventions and surgeries that doctors performed on her as a minor.
The DOJ said that it will continue to investigate other hospitals and medical institutions over this issue while acknowledging that both the Cleveland Clinic and TCH were cooperative. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Brett Shumate said: “I am grateful for this resolution with Cleveland Clinic, but our work is far from over, and our division will continue to work tirelessly to protect America’s children.”
