Connecticut Children's Medical Center agreed in August 2026 to end pediatric gender-affirming care, set aside $500,000 for patients who say they were harmed by it, and pay a monetary penalty to the Department of Justice, joining Texas Children's Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic in similar settlements. The DOJ's own announcement does not identify any law the hospital broke, and the agreement includes no charge, trial, or finding of liability; the hospital denies wrongdoing and signed anyway.
The pressure campaign began with more than 20 subpoenas sent to doctors and clinics last year under a memo from then-Attorney General Pam Bondi citing potential Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and False Claims Act violations. In the Cleveland Clinic's case the DOJ pointed to specific billing codes; for Connecticut Children's, it offered no comparable detail. Asked directly what law the hospital had violated, the DOJ pointed Snopes back to the same memo rather than answer the question.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate called the underlying care a 'discredited practice,' a characterization at odds with the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has called restrictions on such care a 'baseless intrusion' into medical practice. More than 40 medical centers nationally have now pulled back gender-affirming care for minors amid the subpoena campaign.
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