NYU and UPMC End Sex-Change Procedures for Minors After DOJ Probe

On Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, the Justice Department announced that NYU Langone Hospitals and UPMC, two of the nation's largest health care systems, will stop giving children puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery^{1, 2}. NYU agreed to pay $8.5 million and UPMC $950,000¹. For parents, the result is simple: two elite hospital systems that offered sex-change procedures to minors¹ have agreed to stop, and they are paying.

Parents have the right and the duty to direct their children's care, and they should be able to trust that a hospital will answer with caution, honesty and accurate billing. The Justice Department says the agreements resolve investigations into potential violations of federal law arising from the hospitals' provision of these procedures to children¹. Washington Square News reports that in May a federal prosecutor used a grand jury subpoena to demand details "sufficient to identify" NYU patients who had received this care since 2020³. NYU had already shut its Transgender Youth Health Program in February, and the paper reports it was under mounting federal pressure in the months that followed³. Why did it take a federal investigation to get here? The HHS review of 17 systematic reviews concluded that the harms of these procedures are significant, long-term and inadequately tracked, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society declined to contribute evidence⁴.

1. FebruaryNYU had already shut its Transgender Youth Health Program
2. MayA federal prosecutor used a grand jury subpoena to demand identifying patient details
3. Friday, Sept. 18, 2026The Justice Department announced the agreements with NYU Langone Hospitals and UPMC.

These two agreements are not a one-off. The Justice Department calls them another result of its nationwide investigation into hospitals performing sex-rejecting procedures on minors². Washington Square News reports that several other major hospital systems have reached similar agreements since May, and that Mount Sinai in Manhattan struck its deal last month for an undisclosed amount³. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said some of the nation's "largest and most prestigious hospital systems have agreed to cease harming minors³. " Parents should keep asking hard questions about the care offered to their children. The pressure on this practice now comes from courts, legislatures and federal prosecutors at onceFederal prosecutors are investigating hospitals that provide sex-change procedures to minors, and parents are no longer the only ones asking hard questions.

NYU Langone's case deserves a hearing in its own words. NYU Langone says the agreement protects patient privacy by removing “ Lawyers for the transgender patients who sued in June say the Trump administration "strong-armed" NYU and Mount Sinai into a deal³. Privacy matters to every family. But the agreements also end these procedures for minors at both hospitals².

NYU Langone says it did not settle "because of any wrongdoing" and believes the resolution is in its patients' best interests, shielding families and the institution "from prolonged litigation⁵. " The Justice Department's own release says the resolved claims are allegations only, with no determination of liability, and that NYU and UPMC expressly denied them⁶. That is the legal status of the allegations, and it is no defense of the product. The same release says the investigation examines fraudulent billing, including false diagnosis codes used to obtain payment from federal programs and private insurers⁶. Whatever NYU admits or denies, NYU will "permanently cease" these procedures for minors, and parents get the result³.

Parents should take this into every doctor's office and hospital: ask what is being offered to your child, what the evidence is, who is billing for it and what happens if it goes wrong. Shumate has said that investigations into other providers are ongoing and that those who have broken the law and not resolved their potential liability will be prosecuted³. Watch for the next announcement, and keep pressing every hospital in your state for straight answers.

Sources

1. DOJ Secures Agreements with NYU and UPMC to End Pediatric “Gender-Affirming Care” | Office of Inspector General | Government Oversight | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
2. Office of Public Affairs | DOJ Secures Agreements with NYU and UPMC to End Pediatric “Gender-Affirming Care” | United States Department of Justice
3. NYU Langone reaches $8.5M deal to end gender-affirming care investigation - Washington Square News
4. HHS Office of Population Affairs
5. NYU Langone Statement on Settlement with DOJ | NYU Langone Health
6. DOJ Secures Agreements with NYU and UPMC to End Pediatric “Gender-Affirming Care”