Two employees of Texas Children’s Hospital are facing the wrath of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after blowing the whistle on the hospital’s alleged illegal secretive treatment of sex-confused children.
In June, the DOJ indicted Eithan Haim, M.D., on four felony charges for exposing child transgender surgeries and hormone treatment of minors at Houston-based Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), the nation’s largest children’s hospital.
Whistle Blown
Haim, currently a general surgeon in the Dallas area, in May 2023 anonymously leaked to City Journal’s Christopher Rufo documents showing TCH secretly continued its child transgender treatment program after announcing in 2022 it was halting the services.
“The hospital had said unequivocally they were going to shut down their transgender program because of potential criminal legal liability,” Haim told Health Care News. “Because I worked there, I knew that this was a lie. Categorically, it was untrue. They not only continued the program but expanded it.”
The documents showed TCH performed “gender-affirming care” just days after the announcement, which came as a result of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issuing an opinion that such treatment is a form of child abuse. One such procedure done shortly after the announcement was performed on an 11-year-old girl.
“So, you had the biggest children’s hospital in the world lying about a program they acknowledged was potentially criminal,” said Haim. “And in actuality, it was manipulating, mutilating, and sterilizing young children. And they talked about this openly. It was my responsibility to do something about it.”
Alleged Privacy Violations
Haim went public in January, announcing the DOJ was investigating him.
The DOJ alleges Haim violated HIPAA, the federal law protecting patients’ medical information when he exposed TCH’s secret program. Haim faces up to 10 years in prison.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) revealed a January letter from Haim’s legal team pointing out even a “quick glance” at the documents makes it obvious all patient information was redacted.
The letter further argues a “basic HIPAA violation” is a misdemeanor and normally not prosecuted “absent some additional, more significant crime.”
Intimidation Tactics
One day after Rufo’s report, Texas passed a law banning gender interventions in children. Haim argues the interventions were already illegal when he blew the whistle, with SB 14 merely reaffirming existing law.
The day Haim graduated from his medical residency at Baylor College of Medicine, which is associated with TCH, federal agents showed up at Haim’s house and informed him about the investigation.
“The feds come to my apartment a month later, on the day of my graduation, one of the most important days of my life, to inform me I’m a potential target of a criminal investigation,” Haim said. “That day, we decided to fight back.”
Haim had tried to remain anonymous, he said, “because I live in a very small town. I work in an even smaller town. I wanted to live a quiet life and raise a family, but the corruption was so bad that I had no choice.”
Wife, Nurse Targeted
After Haim blew the whistle, the DOJ threatened his wife’s career—she had just been hired as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas—and began to pursue a trial as a form of lawfare, Haim says.
“They had said explicitly that they were going to bring me to a jury trial, even if they were going to lose,” said Haim.
Rufo revealed in June that federal agents also visited the home of another TCH whistleblower, Vanessa Sivadge, a nurse who accuses TCH of illegally billing Medicaid for transgender procedures.
Sivadge told Rufo she participated in such procedures, even telling a child how to inject a sex-change hormone, before realizing she was participating in what she called “deeds of evil and darkness.”
Culture War Microcosm
Haim says he is pleading not guilty to the four felonies he faces.
“I will say this: there is a major disparity between the charges that they’re alleging and the story they’re telling to promote it and the reality of the truth,” said Haim. “Never in American history has something like this been charged before.
“Not only am I not guilty of anything they’re alleging, but the extent they’re willing to come after someone like me is horrifying, absolutely horrifying,” said Haim.
Haim’s case is high-profile and at the center of a hot culture-war debate, with Haim being interviewed by conservative commentators Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson and being represented by Burke Law Group, which is led by former Trump EPA Deputy General Counsel Marcella Burke.
Million-Dollar Legal Costs
Haim says he and his wife spent everything they had on legal fees before going public with the story. Haim’s GiveSendGopage sets a goal of $1,000,000 to cover his ongoing fees. Haim had raised more than $959,000 at press time.
Haim, who is expecting to be a first-time father in October, says he sees his fight as a necessary battle to protect the next generation.
“For generations, mothers and fathers took care of their children, right? Like they had sacrificed everything they had, right? They left home to fight something, even if it meant they weren’t going to come back,” Haim said.
Haim says the experience has been frightening, but “the more terrifying thing is if my daughter grew up knowing that her father was not willing to fight for her future.”
Physicians at Risk
Haim’s story is important because it reveals a double standard in health care, says Jane Orient, M.D., the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
“Dr. Haim’s story is that what THC was doing is irreversible, life-changing procedures on minors and lying about it,” said Orient. “It is very dangerous for doctors to reveal such things. Patient records are accessed by insurers and others all the time for nefarious purposes, with impunity. Dr. Haim is accused of doing it with malicious intent to harm the hospital—he did not compromise the patient’s privacy.”
Harry Painter (harry@harrypainter.com) writes from Oklahoma.