Attorney General Bonta Challenges U.S. DOJ’s Continued Attempts to Subpoena Hospitals’ Gender-Affirming Care Records

OAKLAND ­­— Attorney General Bonta yesterday joined 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The brief supports Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Hospital)’s motion to quash the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ)’s subpoena for documents, including patient records, relating to gender-affirming care at Children’s Hospital. 

“This subpoena is an unjust attack on the privacy of transgender adolescents and a threat to effective healthcare,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This flagrant overreach by U.S. DOJ violates states’ rights to protect the health and safety of their residents. U.S. DOJ’s severe misinterpretation of federal law would prevent doctors from providing patients with the treatments their expertise deems most appropriate, across all fields of medicine, not just gender-affirming care. We will continue to defend Americans’ rights to receive care that honors their privacy and personal needs.”

In July, U.S. DOJ sent Children’s Hospital an administrative subpoena, seeking information and documents relating to the hospital’s provision of gender-affirming care. Children’s Hospital filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado asking the court to quash U.S. DOJ’s subpoena. This subpoena demands sensitive medical records and personally identifying information about adolescent patients and their families. For example, U.S. DOJ is seeking patient names, dates of birth, home addresses, and social security numbers. 

In the amicus brief, the attorneys general urge the district court to quash the subpoena. They argue that:

• The subpoena infringes states’ rights under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution to provide and regulate the practice of medicine;
• U.S. DOJ attempts to justify its subpoena by claiming the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) prohibits administration of and communication about approved drugs for off-label purposes, but this interpretation contradicts established legal precedent; and 
• Accepting U.S. DOJ’s interpretation of the FDCA would severely harm entire fields of medicine, as numerous medical fields commonly prescribe off-label drugs. 

Attorney General Bonta in October joined multistate amicus briefs opposing similar subpoenas attempts by the U.S. DOJ against Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, both of which were quashed.

Joining Attorney General Bonta in submitting the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.