US DOJ Drops Demand for Medical Records of Transgender Children

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped its appeal in a case regarding access to the medical records of transgender children and adolescents treated at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). The department did not explain the reasons for its decision.

Initially, the DOJ under the Donald Trump administration issued a subpoena to UPMC demanding private patient medical records. The move was part of a broader federal government campaign to find grounds to prosecute healthcare providers, even in states where gender-affirming care for minors is not prohibited by law. According to LGBTQ Nation , such actions were used to pressure medical institutions into stopping care.

In December 2025, US District Judge Cathy Bissoon quashed the subpoena. In her ruling, she pointed to the government’s “incendiary characterization” of gender-affirming care, calling it evidence of their “ill-intent.” The judge described the department’s actions as “unprecedented,” adding that they demonstrated “callous indifference, if not abject cruelty” toward transgender people.

The DOJ then appealed the quashing of the subpoena, but this week filed a brief motion with the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit requesting that the appeal be dismissed.

Representatives of the Public Interest Law Center, who defended the patients and their families, called the end of the proceedings a victory. At the same time, the organization’s director, Mimi McKenzie, emphasized that the process came at a great cost: families lived in fear of harassment from the federal government and worried that their confidential medical data would fall into the hands of people who oppose the very existence of transgender and nonbinary people.