In a deal that federal prosecutors called historic, Ohio’s world-renowned Cleveland Clinic has agreed to a self-imposed 20-year ban on “sex-rejecting” procedures for minors, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on June 5.
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation will also set up a $2 million “restorative care” fund to aid those claiming harm from gender-related surgeries and medications. In addition, the clinic will pay a $308,000 penalty “to resolve allegations regarding false billings submitted to public and private payors to secure insurance coverage” for those procedures, a DOJ statement reads.
Consistently ranked among the world’s top hospitals, the Cleveland Clinic did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment on June 8.
The DOJ noted in its release: “The claims resolved by the United States in the settlements are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. Cleveland Clinic has denied all allegations.”
That announcement follows a wave of clinic closures and procedure curtailments as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to oppose these procedures for minors. These interventions may include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and body-altering surgeries.
Asked to comment about the Cleveland Clinic settlement, three people who have publicly opposed the procedures—two medical doctors and a woman who underwent medical procedures to appear male—told The Epoch Times that they were happy about the two-decade moratorium. Yet all three said they harbored concerns about other aspects of the deal.
“This is a momentous victory for ‘detransitioners’ and evidence‑based medicine,” Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Epoch Times. Detransitioners are people who no longer identify as transgender after undergoing gender procedures and seek to end or reverse the procedures.
“No amount of money will undo the harms pediatric gender-transition procedures have caused victims,” said Miceli, chief medical officer of Do No Harm—a group of doctors dedicated to removing “identity politics” from medicine.
However, Miceli said he was pleased about the restorative care fund. He also said it is important that the settlement “resolves allegations of fraudulent billing,” noting his organization’s recent report, “Spotting Potential Fraud: How Healthcare Providers May Skirt Coding Rules to Get Paid for Child Sex Changes.”
One of the doctors—Texas whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim—said he would like to see the DOJ pursue criminal prosecutions rather than civil settlements such as this one.
“Although I applaud the efforts by the DOJ, this is a weak settlement that fails to provide justice to the taxpayers who have been ripped off by these fraudulent practices and the victims who have been permanently maimed by these butchers,” Haim said. “The DOJ has been doing a great job, but they can do better than this.”
The DOJ and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which participated in negotiating the settlement, did not respond by publication time to requests for comment.
Pointing to prosecutions of doctors in several billing-related cases, Haim said: “If it was any other situation, like any other field of medicine … we wouldn’t even be talking about civil claims. We’d be talking about criminal claims—like people would be going to prison.”
Haim also said both sides get a public relations boost from trumpeting a settlement.
“These hospitals are really powerful. … They can pressure the DOJ to be like, ‘Just back off, here’s your win, and just go away,’” he said. “People don’t think that works, but it works all the time.”
Scott Newgent, a biological female who underwent masculinizing procedures as an adult and has crusaded against the procedures for minors, concurred with Haim on that point.
“The reality is that both sides of this debate often cherry-pick facts that fit their political narrative,” Newgent told The Epoch Times. “One side declares victory while the other claims catastrophe, and meanwhile, the underlying issue remains unresolved, while donations surge and children continue to be butchered.”
Newgent sees the settlement as progress, but said: “I will celebrate when the medical transitioning of children ends worldwide—without exceptions, loopholes, or caveats. Until every child is safe, the greatest medical scandal of our time continues.
“Until this stops being a political gold mine for activists, politicians, organizations, and media outlets on both sides, the medicalization of children will continue. And while adults argue over ideology, children remain at the center of the controversy.”
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, in the DOJ statement, said, “The Department of Justice is steadfastly committed to protecting America’s children.”
Last month, the DOJ reached a deal with Texas Children’s Hospital—where Haim previously exposed procedures continuing despite public announcements that they had been discontinued.
To reach the settlement announced three weeks ago, the DOJ worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Together, they persuaded the Texas hospital to agree to a $10 million penalty and to create a “first-of-its-kind clinic dedicated to treating detransitioners,” Woodward said, noting that Texas Children’s also “agreed to permanently cease providing any sex-rejecting procedures to minors.”
The Cleveland and Texas resolutions send messages to providers across the nation, Woodward said: “This Department will vigorously enforce federal law where children are put at risk.”
Details of how the detransition fund would be administered are unclear, and officials did not say how many children had undergone the procedures at the Cleveland Clinic.
However, the DOJ said the Cleveland Clinic would provide care for “the very victims of these predatory and dangerous practices—regardless of their insured status or ability to pay.”
The DOJ statement commends the Cleveland Clinic for being “cooperative, proactive, and solution-driven” during its investigation.
“I am grateful that institutions like Cleveland Clinic and Texas Children’s have decided to be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” said Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Division.
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