Children’s Hospital Colorado Under Federal Scrutiny For Defying Trump Admin’s Ban On Transgender Procedures For Minors

The Department of Health and Human Services has referred Children’s Hospital Colorado for a federal investigation, citing the facility’s refusal to follow Trump-era guidance prohibiting transgender medical procedures for minors.

HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart said Tuesday that he had referred the case to the agency’s inspector general, accusing the hospital of failing to meet “recognized standards of health care” as outlined by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Stuart’s referral stems from the hospital’s response to an HHS declaration that procedures such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries on minors are “neither safe nor effective.” Kennedy’s public health directive earlier this month clarified that any institution administering or supporting such practices on those under 19 would be ineligible for participation in Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The federal government is also investigating whether the marketing and distribution of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for pediatric use violates federal drug laws. Court filings from the Justice Department confirm that subpoenas were issued in July to more than 20 hospitals and doctors’ offices — including Children’s Hospital Colorado — requesting billing records, insurance claims, and internal policy documents related to gender treatments for minors.

Children’s Hospital Colorado is attempting to block the subpoena in court, arguing that the government is overreaching and that patient privacy would be compromised if the hospital complied.

So far, HHS has stood firm. “We will always take every possible action to ensure children all across the nation are safe and protected,” Stuart said in his statement.

In addition to denying records, the hospital is part of a multi-state lawsuit challenging HHS’s new funding restrictions. Colorado and over a dozen other Democrat-led states argue that the Trump administration’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and improperly reinterpret federal health care statutes.

But Secretary Kennedy’s directive signals a sweeping overhaul in how federal agencies approach the issue, aligning funding eligibility with what the administration calls a “biologically sound and ethically responsible” approach to child welfare.

“Sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care,” Kennedy wrote. “The government has a responsibility to protect minors from irreversible harm.”

The move is the latest escalation in President Trump’s broader effort to restrict federal support for gender-related medical interventions in children. The administration has also tightened grant rules, defunded advocacy groups, and opened civil rights investigations into public schools that allow hormone access without parental consent.