FTC eyes trans youth care providers, seeking input on alleged deceptive practices investigation

The Hill

7 days ago

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday launched a public inquiry into whether providers of gender-affirming health care are violating federal consumer protection laws.
In a news release, the FTC said it opened the inquiry 'to better understand how consumers may have been exposed to false or unsupported claims about 'gender-affirming care', especially as it relates to minors, and to gauge the harms consumers may be experiencing.'
The agency said it is investigating whether medical professionals who provide transition-related care are violating federal law against deceptive business practices and false advertising by failing to disclose risks associated with treatment or making unsubstantiated claims about its benefits or effectiveness.
The request for information issued by the FTC asks for the public's response to four questions about their experience with gender-affirming care and the doctors who administer it. The request, which opens a 60-day comment window, does not specify an exact age range but says the agency is interested in information related to care for minors in particular.
Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, say gender-affirming care for transgender adults and minors is medically necessary and can be lifesaving, claims disputed by the Trump administration.
In January, President Trump signed an executive order aimed broadly at ending federal support for transition-related care for adolescents under the age of 19, which he called 'a stain on our Nation's history.' He has also pressed Congress to send legislation ' permanently banning and criminalizing' gender-affirming care for minors to his desk.
The FTC's announcement follows an earlier memo from the Department of Justice (DOJ) this month that it sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics 'involved in performing transgender medical procedures on children' in investigations of 'healthcare fraud, false statements, and more.'
Chad Mizelle, the DOJ's chief of staff, said during a July 9 FTC event in Washington that the department also issued subpoenas to major manufacturers of 'the drugs used in trans-related medical interventions' in investigations related to companies' marketing of prescription drugs and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
The event, a workshop titled 'The Dangers of 'Gender-Affirming Care' for Minors,' featured testimony from doctors, advocates and de-transitioners, individuals who once identified as transgender but have since 'de-transitioned' to live according to their birth sex, who oppose gender-affirming care.
'That testimony indicated that practitioners of 'gender-affirming care' may be actively deceiving consumers,' the FTC said Monday. The agency's workshop did not include testimony from anyone who supports care or said they had benefited from it.
Roughly half the nation has banned gender-affirming care for minors since 2021, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit tracking LGBTQ laws. In June, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban, which a group of transgender children and their families had challenged as unconstitutional.
In 14 states and Washington, D.C., 'shield laws' protect access to gender-affirming care for youth, though some hospital systems in those states have still suspended or discontinued care because of Trump's order and threats from the administration to their federal funding.