A federal judge in New York issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Justice Department from accessing the private health records of minors who received gender-affirming care at New York City healthcare institutions, including NYU Langone and Mount Sinai Health System.
On June 24, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York granted the emergency order, restraining the Justice Department and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche from seeking, receiving, using, retaining or disseminating any identifying or sensitive health information obtained through administrative or grand jury subpoenas issued as part of Justice Department investigations into gender-affirming medical care.
The order also restrains NYU Langone Hospitals, NYU Langone Health System and NYU Grossman School of Medicine from disclosing patient records to the Justice Department in response to those subpoenas. While Mount Sinai patients are covered under the class, the court’s restraining order on record disclosure applies specifically to NYU Langone entities, which received the subpoena directly.
The ruling covers a class of patients who received gender-affirming medical treatment as minors at any New York City healthcare institution, including NYU Langone and Mount Sinai Health System, between Jan. 1, 2020, and May 5, 2026.
Ms. Failla found that the families were likely to suffer irreparable harm without court protection, that they were substantially likely to win on their constitutional claims, and that the public interest favored blocking the records transfer. The court waived the standard bond requirement, finding it would pose a hardship for the patients and their families.
Becker’s reviewed the court documents.
The move came after NYU Langone received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas on May 7, demanding records on patients younger than 18 who received gender-affirming care between 2020 and 2026, as well as the names of the providers involved.
The subpoena came amid a broader Justice Department investigation into gender-affirming care for minors. In 2025, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to more than 20 physicians and clinics nationwide, including UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. In that case, the Justice Department later agreed to narrow its request to anonymized patient records after patients raised privacy concerns in court.
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