NYU Langone settles Justice Department gender care probe for $8.5 million

NYU Langone has agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into gender-affirming care the hospital used to give minors, federal officials announced Sept. 18. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center settled the same day for $950,000.

The deals came exactly two weeks after the department settled with Mount Sinai, which also agreed to stop offering that care to young patients. In each case, the department described its inquiry as a look at “potential violations of federal law.”

NYU Langone had already ended its youth gender care program

When the settlements were made public, neither hospital was still offering this care to young people. UPMC ended it in April 2025. NYU Langone started scaling back early that same year, after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting off federal funding to providers who give gender-affirming care to anyone younger than 19. The order also told the Health and Human Services secretary to work toward ending the care, including through regulation.

NYU Langone later closed the youth program entirely and made the announcement on Feb. 18 of this year. The hospital gave two reasons: its medical director had recently left, and it pointed to the current regulatory climate.

What the Justice Department and NYU Langone said

Attorney General Todd Blanche said his department is working to reach agreements with hospitals to end the care for minors. He said the settlements send a message that hospitals that “fraudulently obtain payment for the procedures will be held to account.”

In a written statement, NYU Langone said the settlement removes the risk that it would be forced to hand over confidential records the government had sought about patients younger than 18 who got gender-affirming care at the hospital. It rejected any suggestion of fault. “NYU Langone has not entered into this settlement because of any wrongdoing,” the statement said. The hospital added that it has formally denied both wrongdoing and liability.

The hospital said the deal spares patients, families, providers and the institution a long court fight. It also said the agreement does not change its pediatric mental health care programs or its care for patients 18 and older.