The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center will stop providing sex-rejecting procedures to minors under a new agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. This is a significant development here in Pennsylvania after years of growing questions about the risks, costs, and billing practices surrounding these sex-rejecting interventions.
On September 18, the Department of Justice announced agreements with UPMC and New York University Langone Hospitals resolving federal investigations into potential violations of federal law connected to procedures euphemistically described as “gender-affirming care.”
Under the agreement, UPMC will cease providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical interventions for so-called “gender transition” to patients under 18 and will pay $950,000 to the federal government as part of the resolution. Neighboring NYU likewise agreed to stop providing the harmful interventions to minors and will pay $8.5 million to the federal government.
“No hospital should subject children to interventions that can permanently alter their bodies and development, said Dan Bartkowiak, Chief Strategy Officer for PA Family Institute. “It is a step in the right direction to see UPMC agree to a ten-year moratorium on these harmful procedures and pay nearly $1 million. Despite no admission of guilt or wrongdoing, this agreement not only offers a level of accountability for children, but also accountability for taxpayers, who have been forced to fund millions of dollars in coverage for these wrongful interventions. ”
In October 2024, the Stop the Harm database was released detailing the involvement of children’s hospitals with sex-rejecting interventions; with two Pennsylvania location on their “Dirty Dozen” worst list: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) at #1 and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at #11. PA Family joined Do No Harm for a press conference with state legislators drawing attention to this database and the need to pass the Do No Harm Act to end this practice in Pennsylvania.
“CHOP should follow UPMC’s lead. There is no good reason that any hospital should be subjecting children to these harmful procedures. Pennsylvania’s children deserve protection, not puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or irreversible procedures based on the false promise that a child can change his or her sex. CHOP should end these practices on minors now.”
CHOP’s Gender and Sexuality Development Program, which opened in 2014, is one of the nation’s largest pediatric so-called gender programs pushing sex-rejecting ideology. As of 2026, CHOP continues to publicly advertise services for children and adolescents that include sex-rejecting medical interventions and referrals for surgical procedures.
The federal investigations that resulted in the UPMC and NYU agreements focused in part on possible violations of the False Claims Act and allegations involving false diagnosis codes or other deceptive billing practices used to obtain reimbursement from federal programs and private insurers. DOJ noted that the claims resolved through the agreements remain allegations, and UPMC and NYU denied the allegations.
For Pennsylvania, the announcement follows questions PA Family Institute has been raising for months about both the effects of these procedures on children and who has been paying for them.
In July, PA Family reported in “Pennsylvania Taxpayers Continue to Pay Millions for Sex Rejecting Procedures on Children” that Pennsylvania Medicaid and CHIP had paid more than $33.6 million since 2015 for what state records described as “sex reassignment and transition related services and drugs” for individuals 18 and younger.
That included puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
More than $16.6 million of that spending occurred after Gov. Josh Shapiro took office.
“These procedures carry life-altering risks and lack reliable evidence demonstrating long-term benefits for children,” Pennsylvania Sen. Chris Gebhard told us at the time.
Even the New York Times, in its September 22 reporting on the hospital settlements, acknowledged serious unresolved questions. The Times reported that the interventions carry known risks, including fertility loss and regret, and that several reviews by health experts have concluded they have not been studied well enough to establish whether they are beneficial.
That makes an observation from Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Leor Sapir especially noteworthy:
“…it’s September 2026, and the New York Times still hasn’t done an investigative report on how major medical associations and scientific journals have promoted misinformation and stifled debate on youth gender medicine.”
The UPMC agreement also follows the August release of the federal HHS report examined in our article, “Pennsylvania Tied to New HHS Report on Widespread Fraud with Sex-Rejecting Interventions.” The report raised questions about diagnostic coding, financial incentives, and millions of dollars in Pennsylvania Medical Assistance spending.
The DOJ says its nationwide investigation remains ongoing.
Similar agreements have already been reached with Mount Sinai Health System, Texas Children’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Connecticut Children’s Hospital.
For Pennsylvania families and taxpayers, UPMC’s agreement marks a consequential change at one of the Commonwealth’s largest hospital systems. It also adds another chapter to the larger national reassessment of transgender ideology and the sex-rejecting interventions that leave children facing permanent negative health consequences and harm long after childhood has ended.
