Hawley outlines investigation of Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital

WASHINGTON — Following the announcement by U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) today that he is launching an investigation into potential malpractice regarding minors at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Senator Hawley has sent a new letter tonight to the university chancellor, hospital president, and the center’s co-directors.

“Starting immediately, your institutions must take steps to preserve all records, written and electronic, regarding gender-related treatments performed on minors since the opening of the Center,” the Senator wrote. “Additional oversight inquiries and outreach will follow.”

His letter went on to reference additional reporting about the Center’s practices, saying today’s report “builds on recent revelations that the Center counseled educational authorities to conceal information from parents regarding their children’s cross-gender identification. […] Encouraging teachers to lie to children’s parents is unconscionable. If even a fraction of the whistleblower’s new allegations is corroborated, the Center should be immediately shut down.”

Senator Hawley spoke with Chancellor Andrew D. Martin of Washington University in St. Louis today, and confirmed they will fully cooperate with the investigation. The Senator was also assured that the whistleblower will be fully protected from retaliation.

Read the full letter here and below:

February 9, 2023

Dr. Andrew D. Martin
Chancellor
Washington University in St. Louis
1 Brookings Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63130

Chancellor Martin and President Lollo:

Earlier today, an extraordinary whistleblower report was published alleging egregious abuses of minors, and potential medical malpractice, at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. That report presented substantial evidence that, like so many other pediatric gender clinics across the United States, this Missouri-based clinic appears to have been operating without transparency, oversight, and accountability—and causing devastating harm to children in the process.

Accountability is coming. Today, my office is launching an investigation into the Center’s treatment practices in order to present American taxpayers and parents with all the facts relevant to policymaking and medical treatment decisions. Starting immediately, your institutions must take steps to preserve all records, written and electronic, regarding gender-related treatments performed on minors since the opening of the Center. Additional oversight inquiries and outreach will follow.

Today’s report, published in The Free Press, featured the testimony of a whistleblower who worked at the Center for four years, and who claims to have witnessed firsthand the manipulation of minors and their parents by medical professionals at the Center. The whistleblower reported that the Center’s “working assumption” was to pursue aggressive and early intervention, despite research indicating that the vast majority of children with cross-gender identification desist by puberty. The whistleblower further detailed examples of the Center’s staff subverting parents’ wishes regarding their child’s medical treatment, including by testifying against them in court, and pressuring reluctant staff to “get on board, or get out.”

This report builds on recent revelations that the Center counseled educational authorities to conceal information from parents regarding their children’s cross-gender identification. On January 17, 2023, news reports indicated that Parkway School District in St. Louis County has been concealing students’ “chest-binding” from their parents—and that the Center encouraged such concealment. Encouraging teachers to lie to children’s parents is unconscionable. If even a fraction of the whistleblower’s new allegations is corroborated, the Center should be immediately shut down.

As Senator for the State of Missouri, it is my responsibility to fully investigate these serious allegations. In addition to preserving all documents regarding gender-related clinical treatments performed by the Center on minors, please immediately provide my office with responses to the following questions, consistent with federal privacy protections for patients. Additional questions will follow.

1. How many minors, and what percentage of minors, referred to the Center for gender-related treatment have been eventually prescribed puberty-blocking drugs?

2. How many minors, and what percentage of minors, referred to the Center for gender-related treatment have been eventually prescribed cross-sex hormones?

3. In how many cases, and in what percentage of cases, involving the prescription of puberty blockers to minors referred to the Center for gender-related treatment have serious medical complications been reported?

4. In how many cases, and in what percentage of cases, involving the prescription of cross-sex hormones to minors referred to the Center for gender-related treatment have serious medical complications been reported?

5. How many minors, and what percentage of minors, referred to the Center for gender-related treatment have been observed to subsequently desist and return to their natal gender identity? If this research is unavailable, please explain why pharmaceutical interventions have been recommended at all.

6. How many minors, and what percentage of minors, referred to the Center for gender-related treatment are lost to follow-up study?

7. What guidance, written or oral, has been provided by the Center or Center-affiliated personnel to third-party stakeholders in response to inquiries regarding youth gender transition in contexts where parents or guardians are deemed insufficiently supportive of transition? Please provide an exhaustive accounting.

8. Please list and describe all sources of funding, federal and non-federal, that the Center receives for gender-related treatments. This may include, but is not limited to, public or private insurance payments, federal or non-federal research grants, and institutional or individual donations.

9. Please list and describe all individuals or entities to which the Center provides training, funding, or any other assistance, including, but not limited to, parents, schools, psychologists, and therapists.

10. Please describe in detail the Center’s policy to ensure compliance with federal conscience protections, including the Church Amendments of 1973—which prohibit employment-related discrimination against health care personnel based on their refusal to participate in sterilization procedures because of their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

11. What policy, if any, does the Center have to inform minor patients and their parents about the known medical risks associated with gender-related treatment? Please provide a detailed explanation of the Center’s policy.

I await your responses. Further outreach will follow.

Sincerely,

Josh Hawley
United States Senator

CC:

Dr. Christopher Lewis, M.D.
Co-Director
Washington University Transgender Center
1 Children’s Place
St. Louis, MO 63110

Dr. Sarah Garwood, M.D.
Co-Director
Washington University Transgender Center
1 Children’s Place
St. Louis, MO 63110