Judge blocks Justice Department subpoena for transgender youth records at Rhode Island Hospital

A federal judge in Providence blocked the Justice Department from forcing Rhode Island Hospital to turn over years of records tied to transgender youth care, ruling that prosecutors had acted in bad faith and were “unworthy” of the trust normally given to federal prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy issued her 24-page order on May 13, 2026, and quashed the administrative subpoena aimed at Brown University Health, which runs Rhode Island Hospital. The request sought roughly six years of records, from 2020 through 2025, in a nationwide Justice Department inquiry into gender-affirming treatment for minors. The government said it was examining alleged off-label use of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs and possible false billing. The order cut off a Texas federal court deadline that had required the hospital to comply by Thursday, May 15.

The subpoena went far beyond routine oversight, according to the court filings. It sought minors’ identities, diagnoses, clinical assessments and treatment information, including records for children who had received puberty blockers or hormone therapy. Local reporting on the case said the request also reached parents’ names, Social Security numbers and other sensitive identifying details. The Rhode Island filing argued the demand was an “unprecedented intrusion” and “extraordinarily broad,” including records of children in Department of Children, Youth and Families custody.

Rhode Island Child Advocate Katelyn Medeiros filed the motion to quash with the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island. They argued that the state’s shield law protects gender-affirming care as legally protected health care activity in Rhode Island, and warned that forcing disclosure could chill treatment and compromise privacy for vulnerable families.

McElroy’s ruling also sharpened the fight over how aggressively Washington can pursue transgender care cases across state lines. Reuters reported that she said the department’s tactics were “unsettling” and amounted to forum shopping after the government moved parts of the dispute to northern Texas following earlier setbacks. The broader clash reflects President Donald Trump’s executive order last year directing federal officials to prioritize investigations into gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth, a policy shift that has put hospitals, parents and state regulators in the middle of escalating federal-state conflict. The decision does not end that fight, but it draws a clear boundary around how far the government can go when seeking deeply personal hospital records.