NEW YORK CITY — U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, blocking federal prosecutors in Texas from accessing medical records of transgender patients treated at New York hospitals. The order granted class-action status to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Failla ruled that the Justice Department violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution with its subpoenas. She stated the government's effort was part of an attempt to "demonize and eradicate an entire population of transgender" people and called the pursuit of medical records of a "uniquely vulnerable group" of patients "most egregious" and unconstitutional.

The Justice Department sought the records as part of a probe into potential misbranding of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. NYU Langone Hospitals received a federal grand jury subpoena on May 7, 2026, from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas. The request originated from a special agent of the Kansas City office of criminal investigation of the FDA. The subpoena asked the hospital to provide documents sufficient to identify every patient who underwent sex-rejecting procedures and all related records from initial consultation to the most recent treatment provided. It also compelled the hospital to produce records pertaining to authorizations from parents for their minor children to receive such care.

Failla accused the Justice Department of using criminal probes to obtain private records after judges rejected similar requests through civil means. She stated that prosecutors were attempting to circumvent adverse rulings by using grand jury subpoenas.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of minors, their parents, and young adults who received gender-affirming care in New York City. Failla stated there were at least 40 individuals who received treatment at NYU Langone during the period covered by the subpoenas, from January 1, 2020, to May 5, 2026.

"The scope of information sought by the government here, which includes medical assessments, diagnoses, informed consent records, and revelation of plaintiffs' transgender status, is significant," Failla stated. She added that the information sought is "squarely within the class of intimate materials warranting the strongest constitutional protection." Because she could not conceive of a crime requiring the breadth of disclosures in the subpoena, she found that the government's interest did not outweigh the plaintiffs' interest in privacy.

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, called the ruling "a victory for the basic privacy of our clients and all families like theirs across New York City." He stated that using subpoenas to attain the identities and sensitive health information of transgender young people "should send chills down the spine of every American." Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, said they are "thankful the court has granted our emergency request to protect the privacy interests of transgender New Yorkers and their families."

NYU Langone Hospitals stopped providing gender identity care for minors earlier in 2026, a decision made after the Trump administration reportedly threatened to withdraw federal funding. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2025 that states could limit or ban gender-affirming care for minors under the U.S. Constitution. Twenty-seven states have limited or banned gender-affirming care for minors. Failla set a July 8 hearing to hear additional evidence before deciding whether to impose a preliminary injunction.