Surgeon Eithan Haim, MD, is being charged with four counts of criminal HIPAA violations after he leaked internal documents from Houston-based Texas Children's Hospital regarding gender-affirming services, Houston Public Media reported June 10.
In May 2023, Dr. Haim shared internal documents from Texas Children's with Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, regarding gender-affirming services for minors.
According to the publication, the documents allegedly showed that Texas Children's Hospital was providing gender-affirming services, despite Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issuing an opinion in February 2022 stating that gender-affirming care was a form of child abuse.
The Department of Justice is alleging that Dr. Haim violated HIPAA, although Mr. Rufo said the documents had no information identifying patients.
Texas Children’s Hospital did not respond to Houston Public Media's request for comment.
In May 2023, Texas Children’s Hospital stopped offering hormone therapy and other transgender care. This move was made in anticipation of a Texas bill — which aimed to curb gender-transition care — becoming law.
This law, Senate Bill 14, went into effect in September 2023. Under the law, no Texans under the age of 18 can access medical treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries.
Dr. Haim's arraignment hearing is scheduled for June 17.