The case had been sealed at Children\u2019s request until November, when a judge ordered that it be made public.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe subpoena\u2019s purpose is transparent,\u201d the hospital\u2019s lawyers wrote in their motion to quash. \u201cIt is designed to intimidate and harass Children\u2019s Hospital into stopping its lawful provision of gender-affirming care to transgender youth and was issued because the administration disagrees with Colorado\u2019s decision to support that form of health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attorneys for the federal government responded that the subpoena is part of a valid investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investigation concerns potential misconduct undertaken in the context of a politically sensitive subject matter, but that fact does not in any way make the subpoena invalid or unenforceable,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
The judge, U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews, has not set a timeline for issuing a ruling.<\/p>\n
New challenge to Medicaid access<\/p>\n
The fight is happening as the Trump administration undertakes new actions against hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth.<\/p>\n
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced proposed rules<\/a> that would block hospitals from the Medicare and Medicaid systems if they provide gender-affirming care \u2014 what the administration called \u201csex-rejecting procedures\u201d \u2014 to children under the age of 18. Because nearly all hospitals treat a lot of patients covered by the two programs, prohibiting a hospital from participating in them would cause significant financial harm.<\/p>\n For instance, in a declaration filed along with Children\u2019s motion to quash the subpoena, Dr. David Brumbaugh, the hospital\u2019s chief medical officer, said nearly half of Children\u2019s patients are covered by Medicaid.<\/p>\n The proposed rules, which still must go through a formal rulemaking process, would also prohibit federal Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care, meaning that states wanting to continue covering such care through Medicaid would have to use only their own money.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Administration will protect America\u2019s most vulnerable,\u201d Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement announcing the proposed rules. \u201cOur children deserve better \u2014 and we are delivering on that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado officials said they have not made any changes in response to the announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChildren\u2019s Hospital Colorado is currently assessing the details of the proposed rules and is committed to sharing any potential impact with patients and families with as much notice as possible,\u201d the hospital said in a statement to The Sun. \u201cThere is no change to our care model at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the attorneys general of 19 states, including Colorado, sued the Trump administration<\/a> seeking to strike down an official declaration underlying the proposed rules that declared gender-affirming treatments \u201cdo not meet professionally recognized standards of health care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDocuments sufficient to identify each patient\u201d<\/p>\n The DOJ subpoena sent to Children\u2019s this summer was part of a wave of similar subpoenas to children\u2019s hospitals across the country.<\/p>\n The subpoenas followed a memo issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi directing the DOJ\u2019s Civil Division to \u201cact decisively to protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of care.\u201d Attorneys for the federal government wrote in court documents that the subpoena to Children\u2019s is part of an investigation into \u201cwhether off-label promotion and\/or unlawful dispensing of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for use by minors violated federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n The subpoena demands that Children\u2019s turn over a massive amount of information to the federal government.<\/p>\n This includes \u201ccomplete personnel files\u201d for potentially hundreds of employees, including the hospital\u2019s highest-ranking executives, who have worked in connection with the hospital\u2019s TRUE Center for Gender Diversity; billing records and external communications related to gender-affirming care; internal communications between employees about gender-affirming care; and contracts, training materials, policy and procedure manuals and promotional materials.<\/p>\n The list also includes \u201cdocuments sufficient to identify each patient\u201d who was prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy, including their name, address, Social Security number and information about their parents or guardians. The subpoena demands medical records for each of those patients, as well as information on informed consent and parental or guardian authorization for the treatment.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe confidentiality of all medical records is paramount, but the records related to gender diverse patients are among the most sensitive that Children\u2019s Hospital maintains,\u201d Brumbaugh, the hospital\u2019s chief medical officer, wrote in his declaration for the case. \u201cTransgender people suffer from high levels of stigmatization, discrimination and victimization, contributing to negative self-image and increased rates of other mental health disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 3,000 patients<\/p>\n In their motion to quash the subpoena, lawyers for Children\u2019s said federal attorneys have told them \u201cthey have no reason to suspect any form of wrongdoing by Children\u2019s Hospital, or any evidence of misconduct by Children\u2019s Hospital or anyone connected with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Brumbaugh wrote in his declaration that the TRUE center has treated more than 3,000 patients since 2020, though not all of those patients have received gender-affirming care. He said the hospital has identified no adverse events from its gender-affirming care, which is a medical term to describe negative consequences resulting in unintentional injury or illness.<\/p>\n Children\u2019s argues that this shows the subpoena is a bullying tactic intended to intimidate both patients and doctors. Brumbaugh wrote that the number of patients seeking care at the TRUE Center has decreased \u2014 a six-month waitlist at the beginning of the year is no more.<\/p>\n \u201cThe uncertainty of whether their records will ultimately be produced through a subpoena has caused these patients and their families significant distress,\u201d Brumbaugh wrote.<\/p>\n The DOJ\u2019s attorneys responded that they don\u2019t need evidence of wrongdoing to seek information from the hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cAdministrative subpoenas simply do not require an agency to possess articulable suspicion of misconduct on the part of the subpoena recipient,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n Other children\u2019s hospitals that received DOJ subpoenas about gender-affirming care have succeeded in court challenges around the country.<\/p>\n In September, a federal judge in Massachusetts quashed a subpoena<\/a> to Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, finding that it was \u201cmotivated by bad faith.\u201d A federal judge in Pennsylvania quashed a subpoena in November<\/a> to Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, holding that the medical records of individual patients were not relevant to the DOJ\u2019s stated investigation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Childrens-2.jpg\")
The exterior of Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, photographed on Oct. 18, 2019. (John Ingold, The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Childrens-1.jpg\")
The exterior of Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, photographed on Oct. 18, 2019. (John Ingold, The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n