Rep. Jerry Nadler railed against the Trump administration Friday for its “weaponization of the justice system against trans youth” after Gothamist first reported that parents said Mount Sinai is planning to share trans patients’ medical records with the federal government.
“Gender-affirming care is healthcare, and patients’ privacy is a fundamental right,” the Manhattan Democrat said in a post on X. “The Trump administration must immediately end its unconstitutional and cruel targeting of healthcare providers for its anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.”
The Trump Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to multiple hospitals across the country in recent months seeking medical records and other documents related to gender-affirming care provided to minors, which the administration has referred to as “sex-rejecting” procedures. That includes services such as puberty blockers and hormone treatment. NYU Langone Health was the first known hospital to receive a federal criminal subpoena for such records last month.
Two parents of trans children who previously received care at Mount Sinai told Gothamist they received calls from hospital representatives Thursday saying their children’s medical records were being shared with the Trump administration. One of the parents said they were told it was in response to a federal subpoena.
A social worker for Mt. Sinai contacted another parent at around 2 p.m. Thursday according to a voicemail reviewed by Gothamist. When the parent called back, they said they were notified the hospital would be complying with a federal subpoena and turning over their child’s private health information to the Trump administration.
The parent, whose 12-year-old began receiving puberty blockers last year, requested anonymity for fear of the child's safety. Like other parents Gothamist spoke to, they said they were able to find another doctor but have increasing concerns that the Trump administration will eventually make care impossible.
"We are committed to safeguarding our patients' privacy. Unfortunately, we have been subpoenaed by the federal government to share some of our patients' records," Mount Sinai spokesperson Lucia Lee said in an emailed statement. "The New York State Shield law requires that we notify patients when we receive a subpoena like this in the event that the records are ultimately produced."
"If we are ultimately required to produce records, our current plan is to provide only de-identified information, with all patient-identifying details removed," Lee continued. "Because this is an active legal matter, we are unable to comment further at this time."
The U.S. Department of Justice responded to requests for comment. NYU Langone has not said whether it will comply with the subpoena.
“Mount Sinai has a moral and legal obligation to their patients to protect their constitutional right to privacy,” Nadler said in a statement. “This is especially true in this case, as transgender youth are among the most vulnerable in our society.”
Micah Lasher, a state Assemblymember who is vying to take Nadler’s seat on the Upper West Side, also spoke out Friday, saying he stands “with the trans community and firmly against this Administration's relentless attacks on trans youth and their care.”
“This is horrific,” Lasher wrote in a post on X. “If you or a loved one is impacted, my office stands ready to assist.”
The City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus issued a statement Friday expressing solidarity with trans youth and their families. Reports that Mount Sinai is planning to share trans patients’ medical records are "deeply alarming and clearly represents another escalation in a coordinated federal campaign to intimidate transgender youth, their families, and the healthcare providers who care for them,” the Caucus said in a joint statement.
The Council is holding an oversight hearing on access to gender-affirming care later this month.
Nadler, along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other New York Democrats in Congress, sent a letter to NYU Langone earlier this week urging the hospital system to “fight these ill-conceived subpoenas to the fullest extent of law.”
The federal lawmakers also asked NYU Langone to resume its program providing gender-affirming services to minors, and noted that such care is “legally protected in New York State.”
NYU Langone discontinued its Transgender Youth Health Program earlier this year after the Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding from hospitals that provided such services. It has not responded to a directive from the state attorney general to resume that treatment.
“The attempts to eviscerate this care have caused serious alarm to former and current Langone patients,” the letter from Nadler and the other representatives stated, adding that it is “imperative that institutions unfairly targeted by this DOJ resist these efforts.”
A group of trans New Yorkers, some represented through their parents, filed a class-action lawsuit against NYU Langone and the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this week challenging the constitutionality of the grand jury subpoena the hospital system received and asking a federal judge to block their health information from being shared. The lawsuit was worded in such a way that it would also apply to patients affected by similar subpoenas issued to other New York City hospitals, according to Lambda Legal, one of the nonprofit firms that filed the suit.
NYU Langone was initially given until June 10 to respond, but a federal judge on Thursday extended the deadline for any production of records sought through the subpoena until at least June 24.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
