Mount Sinai will stop sex-rejecting procedures for children, Justice Department says

Mount Sinai is one of New York’s largest hospital systems. On Friday, Sept. 4, the Justice Department said the system had agreed to stop a set of procedures on children.

Under the deal, Mount Sinai “will cease providing these interventions to minors, including by administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and performing surgical procedures.” The department calls that work sex-rejecting procedures on children, “often described as ‘gender-affirming care.’”

Mount Sinai will also “pay a monetary penalty and dedicate $2 million to providing free medical care to individuals suffering harmful consequences of ‘gender affirming care’ they received as children.” The release does not state the penalty as a separate dollar figure next to that $2 million.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable medical providers that violate federal law and endanger children through so-called gender-affirming care. This agreement puts an end to these practices at Mount Sinai and provides meaningful relief for individuals who have already suffered harm.”

The department said Texas Children’s Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Connecticut Children’s Hospital signed similar agreements. Press release 26-1022.

The announcement points to a January 2025 presidential order, Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation. That order, the department says, told it to put these cases near the front of the line when federal law may have been broken. The investigation looks at possible violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the main federal food-and-drug statute, and the False Claims Act, which covers lying on bills to the government, “including fraudulent billing practices such as the use of false diagnosis codes to obtain payment from federal health care programs and private insurers.”

“The claims resolved by the United States in the agreements are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. Mount Sinai has denied all allegations.”