The Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday that it has opened a formal investigation into Seattle Children’s Hospital over its treatment of transgender minors, marking the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader effort to rein in what it says are unsafe and unproven medical practices involving children.
In a statement posted on X, Department of Health and Human Services said the hospital had been referred to the Office of Inspector General for what the department described as a failure to meet professionally recognized standards of health care. The referral follows a new declaration issued under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that rejects so-called gender-affirming care for minors.
According to HHS, the investigation could carry serious consequences. If violations are confirmed, Seattle Children’s Hospital could lose access to federal Medicare and Medicaid funding, a financial lifeline for most major medical institutions in the country.
The declaration at the center of the probe was released on Dec. 18 and states that gender-affirming care, including the use of hormones and surgical interventions for minors, is “neither safe nor effective.” The document further argues that such treatments fail to meet accepted professional standards of health care, directly contradicting claims made by hospitals and advocacy groups that promote the procedures.
Democratic-led states quickly moved to push back. A coalition of states, including Washington, filed a lawsuit this week challenging HHS over the declaration. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, and Seattle Children’s Hospital also declined to respond.
Seattle Children’s Hospital has long been on the radar of the Trump administration due to its operation of a gender clinic for adolescents. The hospital has said publicly that it provides “gender-affirming medical care and support for adolescents whose gender identity is different from their sex at birth,” a position that has drawn sustained criticism from administration officials.
Recently unsealed court records revealed that the hospital successfully blocked a Justice Department subpoena earlier this year that sought sensitive personal information related to providers involved in gender-affirming medical care for minors. The disclosure added fuel to an already contentious standoff between the federal government and the hospital.
In another move signaling the administration’s hardening stance, federal officials previously stripped Seattle Children’s Hospital of hundreds of thousands of dollars in National Institutes of Health research grants. The administration said at the time that it would not fund research projects based on gender identity, reinforcing its position that taxpayer dollars should not support such initiatives.
Kennedy’s declaration is part of a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on transgender medical treatments for children. Officials have framed the effort as a necessary step to protect minors from procedures they argue carry long-term risks and lack sufficient scientific backing.
Beyond the declaration itself, HHS last week proposed two additional policies that would further raise the stakes. Those proposals would threaten to revoke Medicare and Medicaid funding from any doctors, hospitals, or clinics nationwide that provide transgender-related treatments to minors.
Together, the investigation, funding threats, and policy proposals signal a clear shift in federal oversight under the Trump administration. As legal battles unfold and scrutiny intensifies, Seattle Children’s Hospital has become a focal point in a national debate over medical standards, parental rights, and the role of the federal government in regulating care for children.
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