Missouri Attorney General Files Lawsuit in Response to WU Refusal to Provide Transgender Patients’ Records
The Missouri Attorney General has filed a counterclaim in response to a lawsuit filed by Washington University (WU) over the legal basis of civil investigative demands for documentation about medical procedures performed on transgender patients. WU is refusing to provide records from its Transgender Center that contain patient information, which the Missouri Attorney General claims are essential to the investigation.
Missouri Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, issued civil investigative demands for documentation in February 2023 pursuant to an investigation of the Washington University Transgender Center, including records of patients who received treatment. The investigation was initiated in response to allegations by a whistleblower that the clinic had administered experimental drugs, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones without sufficient assessments and also pressured parents into giving consent. WU strongly denies the allegations.
Washington University complied with the investigative demand and provided documentation but did not provide patient records as it did not believe the Missouri Attorney General had the legal authority to demand the records. The Attorney General claimed that he had the authority to request the records under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA); however, WU argues that the MMPA is a consumer protection law concerning deceptive advertising and the investigation appears to be into medical decision-making at the Transgender Center. In its lawsuit, Washington University asked a St. Louis Circuit Court judge to confirm if the Attorney General has the authority to request the records and, if not, to narrow AG Bailey’s investigative demands.
In the counterclaim, AG Bailey claims that WU initially agreed to comply with the investigative demand and then later changed its position, claiming that the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prohibits the disclosure of patient data. In the counterclaim, AG Bailey asked for the court to rule on whether HIPAA prohibits the disclosure of PHI in response to civil investigative demands. With respect to the documentation sent by Washington University, the documents were not downloaded before the link expired, and after issuing requests to resend, received a file that could not be opened. When the file was resent it contained heavily redacted information, with patient data unviewable.
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The counterclaim answers the question about the legality of the demand and claims that the investigation concerns whether the Transgender Center was “boosting patient volume by falsely advertising compliance with Endocrine Society, World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and similar group guidelines while in fact sharply deviating from those guidelines,” and that “Inducing a person to purchase gender transition services through unfair or deceptive practices leads to life-altering physical consequences.”
The Attorney General claims that the consumer-protection statute grants “extraordinarily broad authority,” including investigating medical malpractice issues. The Attorney General claims the requested documents are essential to the investigation and will reveal whether children underwent irreversible procedures without proper parental consent. AG Bailey seeks an order from the court for the documentation to be provided within 20 days.
The Missouri Attorney General has also claimed that the Biden administration has been quietly interfering with the investigation and alleges that WU changed its position on providing the records after a federal probe. Initially, WU agreed to provide the records, then, after the probe, claimed providing those records violated HIPAA.
