A Texas doctor who exposed a children’s hospital secretly performing transgender procedures on minors now faces federal prison in what critics call a calculated campaign of political persecution by the Biden administration’s Justice Department.
Whistleblower Exposes Secret Gender Treatments on Children
Dr. Eithan Haim discovered that Texas Children’s Hospital continued administering puberty blockers and hormonal implants to minors after publicly assuring state lawmakers the practices had ceased in compliance with Texas law. The physician provided redacted medical records to journalist Christopher Rufo in 2022, carefully removing all patient-identifiable information to protect privacy while exposing the hospital’s deception. Texas had banned gender-affirming care for minors through legislation like SB 14, prompting hospitals to claim compliance amid pressure from state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Haim’s disclosures revealed the hospital violated these public assurances while continuing controversial treatments on children.
"There is a code of silence that exists among physicians today. If you break that code, you will be silenced in the most vicious way possible." Dr. Eithan Haim tells the Federal Trade Commission how he faced prison for speaking against child sex-change procedures.@FTC pic.twitter.com/Cd2zdMcS9J
— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) July 13, 2025
Federal Indictment Targets Record Access Method
The Biden Department of Justice indicted Haim for alleged HIPAA violations, claiming he accessed protected patient information under false pretenses despite no patient-identifiable data being released. Prosecutors initially alleged unauthorized access after his residency ended in January 2021, but hospital records contradicted this claim, showing that Haim continued to treat patients there. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari filed a superseding indictment on October 10 that removed references to unauthorized access while maintaining “false pretenses” allegations and adding claims of “malicious harm” to the hospital. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for exposing what Haim believed were illegal medical procedures on vulnerable children.
Ethics Complaints Challenge Prosecutor Conduct
A former Justice Department lawyer filed ethics complaints with the Texas State Bar and the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility alleging that Ansari misled the grand jury about Haim’s patient status and access rights. Defense attorney Marcella Burke characterized the prosecution as “reckless or malicious,” arguing that her client is being charged with a “non-existent crime” for legitimate whistleblowing. Legal scholar Ed Whelan noted that Haim appears to be explicitly targeted for opposing transgender ideology rather than any genuine violation of patient privacy laws. The prosecutor’s history as a Democrat donor who contributed $11,350 to party candidates, and her current bar suspension in another jurisdiction, have intensified concerns that political bias is driving the case against the whistleblower physician.
Senator Demands Accountability for Whistleblower Targeting
Senator Josh Hawley sent a formal letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray condemning the indictment as an “abuse to silence whistleblowers” who expose practices contrary to emerging medical consensus. The Missouri Republican demanded that the agencies preserve all documents related to the prosecution and highlighted that countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland, have restricted youth gender medicine due to safety concerns and insufficient evidence. Hawley’s intervention reflects growing congressional scrutiny of what conservatives view as selective enforcement by federal law enforcement, contrasting the aggressive prosecution of this whistleblower with the DOJ’s failure to pursue criminals who firebombed pregnancy centers and vandalized pro-life organizations. Heritage Foundation analysts described the case as “outrageous abuse,” representing the weaponization of justice against those challenging progressive gender ideology.
Chilling Effect on Healthcare Whistleblowers
The aggressive prosecution creates a dangerous precedent that discourages healthcare professionals from reporting institutional wrongdoing, particularly when it involves politically sensitive issues like experimental gender treatments on children. Haim’s case differs fundamentally from legitimate whistleblower protections that have successfully exposed fraud, such as recent qui tam cases involving kickbacks to physicians, because it targets exposing practices that many Americans consider harmful to minors. The indictment proceeds despite hospital records validating Haim’s authorized access and the absence of any actual patient privacy breach, as no identifying information was ever disclosed. This undermines fundamental protections for those who risk their careers to defend children from medical interventions that much of the world now views with skepticism, eroding trust in federal institutions meant to protect rather than persecute truth-tellers.
Sources:
Biden-Harris DOJ Prosecutor Targets Trans Whistleblower Doctor Again – Heritage Foundation