WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced a resolution with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation requiring the hospital system to permanently cease performing what the department calls “sex-rejecting procedures” on minors and to dedicate $2 million toward medical care for detransitioners.
Cleveland Clinic will also pay $308,000 to resolve allegations of false billings submitted to public and private insurers to secure coverage for the procedures, which include the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children and adolescents. The agreements were reached in coordination with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
“The Department of Justice is steadfastly committed to protecting America’s children,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “Just as the resolution with Texas Children’s, today’s resolution with Cleveland Clinic furthers that commitment and puts these providers on notice that this Department will vigorously enforce federal law where children are put at risk.”
The resolution follows less than a month after the Justice Department secured a separate agreement with Texas Children’s Hospital, negotiated in partnership with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Texas Children’s agreed to pay a $10,000,000 penalty and to create the first-of-its-kind clinic dedicated to treating detransitioners, in addition to permanently ending all such procedures on minors.
Cleveland Clinic’s $2 million commitment will fund restorative care for detransitioners regardless of their insured status or ability to pay. The DOJ noted that Cleveland Clinic cooperated with the investigation and took “significant steps” that entitled it to credit, describing the institution as “cooperative, proactive, and solution-driven” throughout the process.
“I am grateful that institutions like Cleveland Clinic and Texas Children’s have decided to be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” said Brett Shumate, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to providing millions of dollars towards care for detransitioners is emblematic of just that. I am grateful for this resolution with Cleveland Clinic, but our work is far from over, and our division will continue to work tirelessly to protect America’s children and hold accountable those that have preyed on vulnerable children, whether they be pharmaceutical companies or medical providers.”
The claims resolved by the United States are allegations only, and Cleveland Clinic has denied all allegations. The DOJ’s ongoing national investigation into pediatric gender procedures is being led by the Civil Division’s Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch and Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with additional targets among pharmaceutical companies and medical providers expected.