DOJ pressured Connecticut Children's Medical Center into ending gender-affirming care for minors in third hospital settlement

On August 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with Connecticut Children's Medical Center resolving its investigation into the Hartford hospital's provision of gender-affirming care to minors. Under the agreement, the hospital committed to stop administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and to stop performing related procedures, on patients under 18. The hospital agreed to pay a monetary penalty and to dedicate an additional $500,000 to medical care for people DOJ described as harmed by the procedures. Connecticut Children's denied all of DOJ's allegations while agreeing to the resolution, and said it avoided disclosing protected patient information to the federal government in the course of the investigation.

DOJ said the settlement is the third it has reached with a children's hospital over pediatric gender-affirming care, following earlier agreements with Texas Children's Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, as part of an ongoing national investigation the department opened into providers of the care. DOJ's investigation traces to a presidential executive order directing the department to prioritize investigations of alleged fraud, consumer deception, and federal drug-law violations connected to gender-affirming care for minors.