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By Jenna Sundel and Hannah Parry
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against a Dallas children's hospital and a doctor on Wednesday, accusing them of providing "illegal 'transition' procedures."
Paxton announced that he filed a lawsuit against Children’s Health System of Texas, the country’s seventh-largest pediatric hospital, and Jason Jarin, a Dallas-area pediatric doctor, accusing them of engaging in Medicaid fraud in violation of Texas law.
"I will use every legal tool available to ensure that radical gender activists like Jarin face justice for hurting our kids," Paxton said in a press release.
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Children's Health told Newsweek, "Our top priority is the health and well-being of the patients and families we serve. We comply with all applicable local, state and federal health care laws. Due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time."
Newsweek reached out to UT Southwestern Medical Center, which lists Jarin as an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology on its website, for comment.
Why It Matters
The lawsuit comes amid larger national debates about the rights of transgender individuals. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, the day of his second inauguration, establishing that gender identity "cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex," which the order defines as "not changeable" and "grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."
In the past year, the Supreme Court upheld state bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youths and allowed multiple restrictions on transgender people to be enforced.
What To Know
Paxton alleged that Children’s Health and Jarin billed Texas Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for years for gender interventions on children as young as 9 years old.
The attorney general said Jarin is a division director at Children's Health, and he has seen patients for gender interventions at the Dallas and Plano locations.
Paxton said Jarin is a pediatric gynecologist, "but he regularly performs procedures and medicates both female and male patients with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones."
Paxton alleged that, since 2017, Children’s Health and Jarin have engaged in a "massive" healthcare fraud scheme to bill Texas Medicaid and Texas taxpayers for gender interventions on children.
The lawsuit alleged that Children’s Health and Jarin committed unlawful acts under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act. Paxton said the unlawful acts include repeatedly changing patients’ gender in claims to Texas Medicaid in order to get "illegal and unallowable" claims paid.
The attorney general also alleged that they falsified or misrepresented medical records, prescriptions and billing submissions to pharmacies, insurers and Medicaid.
Emmett Schelling, executive director of Transgender Education Network of Texas, told Newsweek that the lawsuit "is another attempt by Texas Attorney General Paxton to overstep the autonomy, medical privacy, and dignity of trans youth."
"By threatening to criminalize the care that medical professionals overwhelmingly support as evidence-based and lifesaving for transgender people, the state of Texas is making it clear that their end goal is to push trans Texans out of the place we love and call home," Schelling said.
Is Gender-Affirming Care Banned in Texas?
A law banning gender-affirming care took effect in Texas in 2023. Over 20 states have adopted bans on gender-affirming care, some of which have been challenged in lawsuits.
What People Are Saying
Paxton, in a statement: "This criminal extremist not only permanently harmed children, but he also then defrauded Medicaid and stuck Texas taxpayers with the bill for this insanity. Experimental ‘transition’ procedures on minors are illegal, unethical, and will not be tolerated in Texas.”
**Children's Health, in a statement to Newsweek: "**Our top priority is the health and well-being of the patients and families we serve. We comply with all applicable local, state and federal health care laws. Due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time."
Schelling, also to Newsweek: "By threatening doctors and providers, these politicians restrict the autonomy for ALL Texans. We have seen this before. After the state of Texas criminalized access to reproductive care, we have overwhelming evidence of how deadly restricting access to necessary care can be. Imposing criminal penalties onto providers will endanger the lives of all people but will especially impact working-class trans Texans. Healthcare decisions should be made by patients and their providers, not malicious and purposefully obtuse politicians who are pushing a harmful and misinformed narrative about the care that transgender youth need."
What Happens Next
Paxton is seeking over $1 million in monetary relief, including civil penalties, attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses, restitution and other costs.
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