Texas Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton sued a 3rd physician below the state's transgender well being care regulation, which prohibits medical suppliers from offering “gender transition” care to minors.
Paxton's workplace introduced Friday that the lawyer basic is suing Dr. M. Brett Cooper, a Dallas physician who has publicly rejected the state's ban and who offered an affidavit to legally problem the ban.
Paxton's lawsuit alleges that Cooper offered hormone remedy drugs to minors and falsified medical information to hide the prescriptions. Paxton's workplace filed the lawsuit in Collin County District Courtroom on Monday.
Cooper works at UT Southwestern Medical Middle in Dallas and has hospital privileges at Youngsters's Medical Middle Dallas. He’s the third physician Paxton has sued in current weeks and the second who works at UT Southwestern and Youngsters's Well being.
In October, Paxton sued one other physician at UT Southwestern Medical Middle. That very same month, he additionally sued a physician in El Paso.
The three lawsuits are the primary enforcement actions the lawyer basic has taken below Senate Invoice 14, which went into impact in September 2023. The invoice bans a variety of medical therapies for transgender youth, together with sunscreens. of puberty and hormonal therapies.
Paxton v. Cooper's submitting lists 15 minor sufferers to whom the physician allegedly prescribed testosterone after the state's ban on gender-affirming care went into impact.
Paxton's authorized submitting in opposition to Cooper additionally signifies that the lawyer basic focused Cooper partially due to his outspoken advocacy for the LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
The submitting notes that Cooper offered an affidavit in assist of households and medical suppliers who sued the state of Texas over its ban on gender-affirming well being care.
The presentation additionally lists a number of publications that Cooper wrote or was quoted in, which primarily advocate for the empathetic therapy of LGBTQ+ sufferers. The submitting additionally contains screenshots of Cooper's social media on
Texas politicians who assist the ban have hailed it as a vital safety for the state's youth. However medical suppliers and medical associations have publicly opposed such bans, and LGBTQ+ advocates have stated the Texas ban inflicts vital hurt on trans youth.
The American Medical Affiliation has publicly opposed bans on gender-based well being look after a number of years. The affiliation has expressed concern about authorities interference with particular person healthcare selections on the whole, and has additionally pointed to analysis displaying that gender-affirming care improves the standard of life for transgender individuals.
The ACLU of Texas has additionally raised the identical issues and was a part of a bunch that sued over the Texas ban. The Texas Supreme Courtroom upheld the state regulation in an Eight-1 choice over the summer time.
Paxton's lawsuits in opposition to medical doctors are the newest in a collection of actions by Texas politicians concentrating on LGBTQ+ individuals, significantly when kids are concerned. In 2022, Governor Greg Abbott ordered state businesses to deal with studies of gender-affirming little one care as “little one abuse.” And in 2023, the Texas legislature handed a regulation criminalizing express drag exhibits the place kids are current; A federal decide dominated that very same 12 months that the regulation was unconstitutional.
Representatives for UT Southwestern Medical Middle and Youngsters's Medical Middle Dallas didn’t instantly remark. This can be a growing story.
