Charges Dropped Against Doctor Who Leaked About Minors’ Transgender Care

U.S.|Charges Dropped Against Doctor Who Leaked About Minors’ Transgender Care

Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against a surgeon in Texas who was accused of obtaining and sharing private medical information about gender-transition-related treatments for minors at one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country.

The surgeon, Dr. Eithan Haim, was indicted last May in U.S. District Court in Houston on four counts of obtaining, under false pretenses, personal medical information from the online system at Texas Children’s Hospital. He requested access to the hospital’s record database in 2023, two years after he last worked there, claiming that he needed the information to provide “adult care services.”

The doctor took the health care information of children who had received transition-related services and disclosed that information to a conservative activist, Christopher Rufo. Mr. Rufo then published an article saying the hospital was continuing to provide transgender care to minors after it had announced an end to the practice.

Dr. Haim, 34, who has acknowledged disclosing the records, pleaded not guilty because he did not think he had done anything wrong, he said in a telephone interview on Saturday from his suburban Dallas home. He called himself a whistle-blower and said he had redacted the patients’ records to hide any identifiable information.

Prosecutors did not provide an explanation for dropping the charges, and Dr. Haim said he was relieved and surprised that they had done so. He said he had President Trump to thank for it, “100 percent.”

“He’s my man,” he said.

Texas Children’s Hospital said in an emailed statement that it would “defer to and respect” the prosecutors’ decision, which was announced Friday.