Judge blocks DOJ from collecting transgender minors' records at Stanford hospital

A federal judge in San Jose has blocked the Justice Department from collecting the identities and medical records of transgender minors treated at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, converting an earlier temporary order into a preliminary injunction.

U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts issued the ruling on July 2, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The order keeps the DOJ from obtaining records tied to transgender minors while the federal case continues.

The decision follows a temporary restraining order Pitts issued on June 8 in the same dispute. The new injunction gives the hospital and the families involved stronger protection for now, while leaving the underlying litigation in place.

What the judge said

According to the Chronicle, Pitts said the government’s demand was part of a bad-faith campaign to intimidate hospitals and stop lawful gender-affirming care. He also said disclosure would violate the youths’ constitutional right to informational privacy.

Pitts said the release of the records could discourage transgender minors and their families from seeking medical care. That finding was central to his decision to block the DOJ from obtaining the material at this stage.

The judge also rejected the government’s effort to turn the dispute into a broader statewide fight. He declined to issue a statewide injunction because there was no evidence that similar federal demands were being made at other California hospitals.

How the case developed

The ruling stems from a DOJ effort to reach protected medical records through a grand jury in Texas, according to the reporting. Pitts said he found no discernible relevance between the demand and a federal healthcare offense.

The hospital at the center of the dispute is Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, which treats transgender minors receiving gender-affirming care. The case concerns both their identities and their medical files, placing patient privacy at the center of the legal fight.

The July 2 preliminary injunction extends the temporary protection the judge had already put in place on June 8. That chronology matters because it shows the court had already seen enough to halt the records demand before making the injunction more durable.

Broader fight over gender-affirming care

The Stanford dispute is part of a wider federal campaign that has put hospitals, clinics and doctors under pressure over gender-affirming care for minors. Federal prosecutors have used subpoenas and other demands to seek records, prompting repeated court challenges from providers and advocates.

A separate federal judge in New York recently blocked DOJ access to transgender patients’ medical records in another case, showing that similar fights are unfolding in more than one jurisdiction. Those rulings have become part of a broader legal debate over how far prosecutors can go in pursuing protected health information.

The case also lands in a politically charged environment in which the Trump administration has sought to restrict or investigate gender-affirming care for minors. Supporters of the care say aggressive enforcement can chill families from seeking treatment and may expose vulnerable patients to unnecessary scrutiny.

What happens next

The Justice Department can appeal the preliminary injunction to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The underlying case will continue in federal court unless the order is stayed or overturned.

Reporters will be watching for any DOJ response or filing, any appeal, and whether similar demands are expanded to other California hospitals. For now, the ruling leaves Stanford patients shielded from the records request while the legal fight continues.

The DOJ had not publicly commented by the time of publication, according to the Chronicle.