The Cleveland Clinic has become the second medical institution to reach an agreement with President Donald Trump's Department of Justice related to fraudulent billing allegations, specifically associated with gender affirming care for people under the age of 18.
On Monday's 鈥淪ound of Ideas," we continue our Law of The Land series looking at how the law impacts our everyday lives by sorting through which includes a payment of $300,000 from the Clinic to be split between the state of Ohio and the DOJ, and a commitment to set aside $2 million to cover the cost of detransitioning care for those seeking it who cannot afford it.
The Clinic has also agreed not to provide puberty blocker and hormone treatments to minors for the next 20 years, which extends beyond the current requirements under Ohio's House Bill 68, a law which has been in effect since 2024.
In May, Texas Children's Hospital agreed to pay $10 million dollars and establish the nation's first "detransition clinic."
In the Cleveland Clinic settlement, the Department of Justice called gender affirming care for minors "misguided medical interventions."
Critics are calling this agreement a lapse in medical integrity, amounting to cruelty and anti-trans hate. Particularly, the emphasis on funding detransition care is being called unnecessary, bigoted and performative.
When we reached out to the Clinic ahead of this segment, a spokesperson told 精东影业 via email that the Clinic remains focused on providing exceptional care to its patients and communities.
In our show, we talk through the DOJ's allegations against the Clinic and what the settlement entails. We'll also share a statement from the Cleveland Clinic on the agreement, and learn why an Ohio advocacy group is disappointed in this result, to say the least.
Guests:
-Dara Adkison, Executive Director, TransOhio
-Justin Glanville, Deputy Editor of Engaged Journalism, 精东影业
