The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) reports that it has secured “historic commitments” in its efforts to protect minors from being subjected to “sex-rejecting procedures” and their harmful, and often irreversible, effects.
“Today, the Department of Justice announced another resolution arising from its ongoing national investigation into violations of federal law in connection with sex-rejecting procedures on minors (often euphemistically referred to as ‘gender-affirming care’),” the DOJ said Friday in a press release:
“The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (‘Cleveland Clinic’) has entered into agreements with the Department and the Ohio Attorney General that include a decades-long commitment to not perform or offer sex-rejecting procedures—which includes the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones—for minors.”
“These historic commitments pair the cessation of these dangerous practices masquerading as medical treatment with substantial investments in remediating the destruction they cause and restoring the health of the victims,” the DOJ explained.
The agreements also resolve allegations that Cleveland Clinic used false diagnosis codes in billing in order to hide the fact that the treatments to minors were actually sex-rejecting:
“CCF knowingly submitted claims for payment to Ohio Medicaid with false diagnosis codes for items or services provided to patients under the age of 18 to treat the patients’ gender dysphoria or other gender identity related disorder. CCF used false ICD-10 codes – principally E34.8 (other specified endocrine disorders) or E34.9 (endocrine disorder, unspecified) – instead of an accurate diagnosis code to allegedly obscure the true reasons for the items and services provided to the patients.”
To resolve the alleged violations, Cleveland Clinic committed to:
- Provide $2 million in care for people who detransition after receiving sex-rejecting treatment as minors.
- Offer detransition services to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
- Publicize those services by means including a dedicated conspicuous webpage, a dedicated phone number, a dedicated care coordinator, website optimization, and direct outreach to three entities that provide non-medical services to those seeking to detransition.
- Pay $308,000 to resolve allegations regarding false billings submitted to public and private payors to secure insurance coverage for sex-rejecting procedures on minors.
- Refrain for 20 years from performing or offering sex-rejecting procedures for minors.
- Refrain from referring, directing, recommending, coordinating, facilitating, or otherwise arranging for sex-rejecting procedures by any third party or external provider.
“Sex-Rejecting Procedures” serve the purpose of aligning with or affirming a minor’s asserted gender identity rather than the minor’s sex, including, but not limited to:
- Puberty suppression.
- Hormone administration.
- Surgical interventions.
- Voice modification interventions.
Cleveland Clinic agrees to provide detransitioning supportive services, including, but not limited to:
- Medical care for hormonal balancing.
- Endocrine care.
- Surgical revision and reconstruction.
- Fertility restoration.
- Psychological support (including grief counseling).
- Insurance coordination for individuals seeking detransition who underwent any Sex-Rejecting Procedures before reaching nineteen (19) years of age.
“Detransition” constitutes the evaluation, management, discontinuation, reversal, or treatment for or modification of the effects of prior sex-rejecting procedures.
The agreements with Cleveland Clinic follow a similar resolution reached by the Justice Department with Texas Children’s Hospital, which the Department secured through a partnership with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In that agreement, Texas Children’s agreed to pay a $10,000,000 penalty and, like Cleveland Clinic, create a facility dedicated to treating detransitioners. Additionally, Texas Children’s Hospital agreed to permanently cease providing any sex-rejecting procedures to minors.
