Texas Doctor Charged With Illegally Obtaining Transgender Healthcare Records

  (L) Dr. Eithan Haim walks out of the Bob Casey United States Courthouse after appearing for his arraignment on June 17, 2024 (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)(R) Chris Rufo Editor City Desk (Wkipedia)

Dr. Eithan Haim, a 34-year-old surgeon is accused of illegally obtaining private information on patients from the nation's largest pediatric hospital who were not under his care, CBS News reports.

The indictment charges that Haim illegally obtained information on both children and adults being treated for gender dysphoria at Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital locations.

Federal prosecutors said Dr. Haim, snatched the information and shared it with a right-wing extremist Chris Rufo with "intent to cause malicious harm" to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

Contributing Editor at City Journal and far-right propagandist Chris Rufo is largely responsible for the rise of “critical race theory” as a major concern for the GOP, according to Vox. He has played a crucial role in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s attempt to transform Florida’s universities, spearheading the takeover and transformation of the New College of Florida, a small liberal arts school, as proof of concept for a new right-wing model for higher education.

The four-count indictment alleges Haim obtained personal information including patient names, treatment codes, and the attending physician from Texas Children’s Hospital’s (TCH) electronic system without authorization. He allegedly obtained this information under false pretenses and with intent to cause malicious harm to TCH.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas Press Release , the indictment charges that Haim was a resident at Baylor College of Medicine and had previous rotations at TCH as part of his residency.

In April 2023, Haim allegedly requested to re-activate his login access at TCH to access pediatric patients not under his care. The indictment alleges he obtained unauthorized access to personal information of pediatric patients under false pretenses and later disclosed it to a media contact.

Haim has publicly identified himself as the person who gave the information about patients at Texas Children's to Chris Rufo who published a story that the hospital was providing transgender care for minors in secret. At the time, transgender care for minors was legal in Texas, but the hospital under pressure from anti-LGBTQ crusader Texas AG Ken Paxton announced in 2022 that it would stop gender-affirming therapies.

Texas lawmakers banned transgender care for minors in September 2023. That law is being challenged in court

At least 25 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states face lawsuits.

"I have maintained from day one that I have done nothing wrong. We're going to fight this tooth and nail, stand up for whistleblowers everywhere," Haim said outside the courthouse Monday.

Texas Children's declined to comment on the charges against Haim. In previous statements, hospital officials said its doctors have always provided care within the law.

Haim pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to four counts of wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information.

If convicted, criminal indictments unsealed Monday indicate that Haim faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 maximum possible fine. He was released on $10,000 bond.

Miki's Victory: Settlement With Kaiser Permanente of Colorado.Insures Equal Coverage For Transgender People

When FTM teen Miki Alexander Manigault was turned down for SRS and HRT the heat got turned up. Turns out Kaiser grabbed the tigress by the tail because Miki's mom is by coincidence a human rights officer for the state. She knows paperwork.

Miki has received a undisclosed settlement from Kaiser for discriminating against him resulting in a Bulletin from the Colorado Insurance Regulator agency stating effective immediately:

If you are transgender that can't be considered a pre-existing condition denying you coverage. Secondly, transgender people can not be charged more and thirdly and most importantly transgender people in Colorado have the same sort of access to care for conditions that are covered for cisgender people.

Colorado joins Oregon, California and the district of Columbia in insuring non discrimination when it comes to accessing insurance for transgender individuals.

There's amazing in depth coverage of Miki's victory at Health Policy Solutions.org and One Colorado.



Colorado has come a long ways in the four years since Angie Zapata was murdered. R.I.P. Angie

Tufts Joins at Least 37 Other US Universities By Including Transgender Healthcare

There is a wide range of insurance policies offered to trans people in academia. Some cover just staff, some include students too. Some policies only cover HRT while some cover limited SRS surgical procedures. Some cover all transitional costs from a2Z. It's a wide array of possibilities. But all have one thing in common. They value us so much as individuals they are making the effort to cover us to some extent. That says a lot.

Source Boston.com "Tufts University has adopted a new healthcare plan that includes benefits for transgender students, making Tufts the 37th university or college in the country to offer health insurance of this kind, according to university officials."

"Michelle Bowdler, the senior director of health and wellness services at Tufts, said that these benefits will include coverage of hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgeries."

“These are needs that are absolutely a medical necessity,” she said Friday in a phone interview with Katherine Landergan at Boston.com.

Thanks to HRC for compiling this list.

Employee Health Plans: transgender-inclusive coverage
Some colleges and universities with employee plans that provide minimum or better transgender-inclusive coverage including at least some transition-related surgeries (15 TOTAL):

•American University
•City University of New York (CUNY)
•Harvard University
•University of California Berkeley
•University of California Davis
•University of California Irvine
•University of California Los Angeles
•University of California Merced
•University of California Riverside
•University of California San Diego
•University of California San Francisco
•University of California Santa Barbara
•University of California Santa Cruz
•University of Michigan
•Yale University

Student Health Plans: transgender-inclusive coverage
Colleges and universities with student health plans that provide minimum or better transgender-inclusive coverage including at least some transition-related surgeries.

•California Institute of Technology (Fall 2010)
•Cornell University (Fall 2011)
•Emerson College (Fall 2007)
•Emory University (Summer 2010)
•Harvard University (2010, 2012)
•New York University
•Portland State University (Fall 2008)
•Stanford University (Fall 2010)
•The University at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo)
•University of California Berkeley
•University of California Davis
•University of California Irvine
•University of California Los Angeles
•University of California Riverside
•University of California San Diego
•University of California San Francisco
•University of California Santa Barbara
•University of California Santa Cruz
•University of Connecticut (Fall 2010)
•University of Michigan (Fall 2007 - all students; Jan 2006 Grad Student Employees)
•University of Pennsylvania (Fall 2010)
•University of Vermont
•University of Washington (Fall 2008; updated 2011)
•Washington University in St. Louis covers surgical services only, and not hormone therapy.

Student Health Plans: limited coverage
This is a partial list of colleges and universities with student health plans that provide much more limited access to needed health care: hormone therapy but not medically necessary surgical procedures related to sex reassignment.

•American University
•Bridgewater State University
•Ithaca College
•Lewis and Clark
•Massachusetts Institute of Technology
•Ohio State University
•Pennsylvania State University
•Princeton University
•Reed College
•Suffolk University
•University of Chicago
•University of New Hampshire
•University of Oregon
•University of Southern California
•University of Wisconsin, Madison
•Vassar College
•Yale University

More detailed yet confusing data can be found at the HRC White Paper

Ending Transsexual Hospital Horror Stories: HHS Confirms We are Covered

I think pretty much every trans identified person can recount instances when we were made to feel uncomfortable, misgendered, and even denied emergency service because of our gender expression. And nearly everyone of us have reservations about returning to those intimidating institutions.

Under Obama-care this is no more according to HRC who reported this:

"In response to a letter from LGBT organizations, including HRC, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that the non-discrimination provision in the Affordable Care Act prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sex stereotyping.

This part of the law, referred to as Section 1557, extends the protections of existing federal civil rights laws – which prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, disability and age – to anyone served under any federally funded or administrated health program or activity, or any entity established under the Act. Individuals who feel they have been discriminated against in a healthcare program that may fall under this protection can file a complaint with HHS’s Office of Civil Rights here"

Kudo's to HRC for working WITH and and giving CREDIT to others who contributed to this project. I think it's a sign of the times.