NYU Langone reaches deal with DOJ to end gender-affirming care for minors

NYU Langone has reached an agreement with the Justice Department to end gender-affirming care for minors.

Earlier this year, the DOJ subpoenaed the hospital, seeking records of patients under age 18 who received gender-affirming care and the providers who treated them.

An appeals court later blocked the government from seeking the records.

The DOJ now says NYU will pay $8.5 million to settle the dispute.

Friday, the hospital said they entered into the settlement to protect patients' privacy.

"We believe this resolution is in the best interests of our patients and their families, protecting them as well as our providers and the institution from prolonged litigation. It allows us to remain focused on our mission of delivering top-quality patient care, advancing medical research, and educating future physicians," the hospital said in a statement, in part.

NYU Langone says they have denied any wrongdoing or liability in the agreement.

Myeshia Price, an Indiana University associate professor of human development, says stopping the care could impact patients' physical and mental health.

"For some of them, particularly if they are receiving hormones or things like that, the way they look may change if those are pulled back," Price said. "So I do think there would be some social repercussions to that in terms of how people treat them, how they present to the world."

The hospital says that care for patients over the age of 18 will continue, along with pediatric mental health care programs.