Uthmeier sues medical groups over ‘gender-affirming care’

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office has filed a civil lawsuit against three prominent medical organizations, alleging they have engaged in a coordinated campaign to mislead patients, parents, insurers, regulators and courts about the safety and efficacy of what the complaint describes as “gender-affirming care” for minors.

The complaint, filed last month in the Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit in and for St. Lucie County, targets the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, asserting their published guidelines and clinical recommendations constitute deceptive practices in violation of Florida’s consumer protection statutes.

According to the complaint, the organizations allegedly developed and promoted a set of clinical guidelines that recommend a sequence of medical interventions, beginning with puberty suppression, progressing to cross-sex hormone treatment and culminating in irreversible surgeries, for children experiencing gender dysphoria.

The plaintiffs claim these interventions “irreversibly alter children’s bodies” and that there is no credible evidence demonstrating that such treatments alleviate pediatric gender dysphoria, asserting that earlier versions of guidelines were comparatively modest and that later revisions expanded recommendations to include lower age thresholds and broader indications.

The lawsuit contends that the defendants’ guidelines have been widely disseminated and repeatedly cited in medical practice and legal decisions, creating what the complaint describes as a “facade of legitimacy” that Uthmeier alleges conceals a lack of scientific support and hides the alleged risks associated with the interventions.

The plaintiffs allege these practices mislead consumers, medical professionals and state and federal entities about the purported safety and effectiveness of these treatments and thus violate the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) and constitute a pattern of racketeering under the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (Florida RICO Act).

The complaint notes that diagnoses of pediatric gender dysphoria have increased significantly in recent years, citing external sources and reports recognising a rise in numbers of children identifying as transgender and asserts that a holistic psychosocial model was historically endorsed by national health agencies, according to the suit.

The lawsuit claims that the defendants abandoned that model in favor of aggressive protocols that generate significant financial revenues for members and affiliates.

The civil action seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, statutory penalties, civil penalties, attorney’s fees and costs and other equitable remedies under Florida law, according to the suit.

The complaint alleges that the defendants’ actions have harmed Florida’s residents, including minors who may be subjected to the care protocols the lawsuit challenges and that without judicial intervention, such practices will continue, according to the suit.

In the press release announcing the lawsuit, the Attorney General’s Office said the complaint was filed against the three organizations for “allegedly misleading public opinion on the safety of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors.”

The legal case marks one of the most significant actions taken by the Florida Attorney General’s Office challenging the way national medical bodies set standards that influence pediatric health care.