Second Circuit blocks DOJ grab for trans patient medical records
The Second Circuit denied the Justice Department's bid to stay a lower-court injunction blocking its attempt to seize medical records of transgender youth treated at New York facilities. The three-judge panel, including two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee, offered only a brief order denying the motion.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Failla had issued the injunction in July after federal prosecutors sent grand jury subpoenas to more than 20 health facilities seeking gender-affirming care records dating to 2020. She found the plaintiffs — five patients who were minors when treated, suing with their families — likely to suffer irreparable harm and likely to prevail on claims against co-defendant NYU Langone under state confidentiality law.
The subpoenas followed a January 2025 Trump executive order restricting federal support for gender-affirming care for minors and an April 2025 directive from then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate drug makers over off-label promotion of puberty blockers and hormones. Similar subpoenas have drawn lawsuits nationwide, with several federal courts quashing or narrowing them.
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