The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday unveiled an indictment against Dr. Eithan Haim. Last year, Dr. Haim disclosed evidence of cross-sex hormone treatments being administered at a Texas hospital, despite the hospital’s claims that these procedures had been stopped.
The surgeon is now facing four felony charges for allegedly violating medical records laws, which could result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
On June 17, the DOJ announced charges against Dr. Haim for unlawfully obtaining protected health information of patients not under his care. He allegedly acted without authorization and intended to cause malicious harm to Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH).
The controversy stems from TCH, the nation’s largest children’s hospital, publicly announcing in March 2022 that it would stop providing hormone-related prescription therapies for gender-affirming services to minors.
This decision came in response to potential legal and criminal liability after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that prescribing puberty blockers constitutes “child abuse” under Texas law.
Documents leaked by Dr. Haim allegedly revealed that the hospital continued to perform some “gender-affirming” therapies even after its public announcement.
The leaked documents reportedly include a case involving an 11-year-old patient who underwent a procedure just three days after the declaration was made.
Ultimately, Texas legislators enacted a ban on sex-change procedures and puberty blocker prescriptions for children, which took effect in mid-2023 following a legal challenge. That same year, TCH announced it would cease offering any transgender medical procedures for children.
Dr. Haim, who was set to make a court appearance on June 17 before U.S. Magistrate Yvonne Y. Ho in Houston, faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 maximum possible fine if convicted on charges of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
A request for comment on Dr. Haim’s indictment sent to TCH public relations department was not immediately returned.
Alamdar Hamdani, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, who announced Dr. Haim’s indictment, said in a statement that the “defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.”
On June 16, a day before he was set to head to court, Dr. Haim issued a message about the case.
“We will face down those who are committed to corrupting our institutions and who are destroying the future my daughter deserves,” he wrote in a post on X.
“So to all the fathers out there, I would say one thing. We can never submit to our children’s destroyers, we must fight relentlessly to preserve their dignity, and we must be ready to sacrifice for their future.”
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Unless he named specific individuals, exposing a practice ongoing against state law is not an HIPPA violation!