Renowned NYC medical center caves to Trump on trans youth care just as DOJ loses in court

Mount Sinai Health System has agreed to stop providing gender-affirming medical care to minors under a settlement with the Trump administration, making one of New York’s largest hospital systems the latest provider to retreat as federal officials use investigations, subpoenas, and funding pressure to reshape transgender people’s access to health care nationwide.The Justice Department announced Friday that Mount Sinai will cease providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and other transition-related care to minors. The hospital will also pay an unspecified monetary penjalty and dedicate $2 million to free medical care for people who say they suffered harmful consequences from gender-affirming treatment received as children.DOJ acknowledged that its claims are allegations, that no determination of liability has been made, and that Mount Sinai denies wrongdoing.Related: Mount Sinai Hospital drops gender-affirming care for trans teens, leaving New York families worried Mount Sinai offered a different explanation for the deal. It says it was trying to protect transgender patients’ medical records.“Mount Sinai was subpoenaed by a grand jury in the Northern District of Texas to produce, among other documents, the medical records of some of our patients who received gender-affirming care,” a spokesperson said in a statement to reporters. The hospital said it settled with DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services so it would not be forced to provide those records.The hospital said the dispute could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court and that continuing the fight might eventually require disclosure. It also rejected suggestions that settling meant Mount Sinai believed providing gender-affirming care was wrong, noting that the agreement expressly denies wrongdoing.But there is a complication to that defense. When Mount Sinai settled, its patients were already protected by a federal court order.In June, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla blocke