A surgeon who spoke up about alleged secret gender-affirming procedures on minors in a Texas hospital has been charged with four felonies.
The Department of Justice has accusedDr. Eithan Haim, 33, of HIPAA violations, indicting him on four criminal charges, as first reported by City Journal.HIPAA rules protect a person's protected health information.
Haim responded to the charges, saying: 'They wanted to intimidate me into silence using every technique the federal leviathan had at their disposal. But they failed.
'The only way to lose is to submit to corruption. It's time to fight back harder than ever!'
Haim in May 2023 released medical files showing that Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) staff had provided puberty blockers and other sex-change treatments to kids, even after hospital officials said they had stopped doing so in March 2022.
He has repeatedly said the leaked documents did not include any patient's personal information.
The Department of Justice has accused Dr. Eithan Haim of HIPAA violations, indicting him on four criminal charges
Haim's lawyer Marcella Burke told Fox News: 'My client is anxious to get to trial to get his side of the story told. I am confident this will result in the correct decision being made.'
The surgeon added: 'Had three heavily armed agents at my door 7AM Tuesday to inform me I was indicted with four felonies...for blowing the whistle about the largest children's hospital in the world lying to the public about their transgender program.'
In January, Haimlaunched a fundraiserto cover his legal costs for what he called a 'blatant attempt at political intimidation.'
'Just over a month later … two federal agents showed up to my apartment in a highly atypical, unexpected, and aggressive show of force,' Haim wrote in his appeal for help covering his spiraling legal costs.
Eithan Haim has launched a fundraiser to cover his legal costs for what he calls a 'blatant attempt at political intimidation'
'I was given a target letter signed by a federal prosecutor that stated I was being criminally investigated for a case regarding medical records.'
The prosecution, says Haim, is 'driven by a highly ideological division within the Department of Health and Human Services.'
Officials seek to 'silence whistleblowers who expose institutionalized medical corruption and the dangers of these hormone-based interventions for confused, adolescent children,' he added.
The FBI declined to comment on the case. DailyMail.com reached out toTCH, but did not immediately get a reply.
Haim insists he did not break any rules. Though he released private medical files that detailed trans medical procedures on children as young as 12, he says the identities of patients had been redacted.
He aims to raise $500,000 via the GiveSendGo.com website to cover his legal costs in a case that he says has already forced him to cash in his retirement funds, investments, and other savings.
Haim's whistleblower documents (pictured) purportedly showed that Texas Children's Hospital continued to provide gender care for young patients, including the administration of implantable puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
'Although we have given this case all we have, there simply isn't enough to keep up with the hundreds of thousands we currently owe in legal bills or the potential million(s) it would cost to fight this case through trial,' he wrote.
Texas Children's Hospital said it would stop gender-affirming care procedures afterTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled in February 2022 that stated gender-affirming care for kids could be a form of child abuse under state law.
However, in May, 2023, right-wing activist Christopher Rufo published documents from Haim, then an anonymous whistleblower, showing TCH doctors continued providing gender treatments to kids within days of the hospital's decision, and continued to do so throughout 2022 and into 2023.
According to the records, one TCH doctor performed transgender medical procedures on minors whose ages ranged from 12 to 17, with 'visit types' listed as 'gender dysphoria' and 'gender identity.'
The revelations showed that Texas Children's Hospital continued providing gender-reassignment care to children even after officials insisted they had stopped
Another visit was listed for 'HRT [hormone replacement therapy].'
Other records detailed the removal of 'non-biodegradable drug delivery implant[s]' for 'gender dysphoria in pediatric patient[s].'
These are understood to be pellets placed under the skin of the upper arm that slowly release cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to trans-identifying minors, without the need for regular jabs or pills.
One procedure listed in the documents suggests one appointment was with an 11-year-old 'female-to-male transgender person' — three days after the hospital announced it was halting such treatments.
The documents also describe a 19-year-old who was interested in breast removal surgery.
A 15-year-old is listed in the records as having 'questions about surgery.'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said 'unhinged activists' are behind a medical system that's too eager to get confused kids onto puberty blockers
The documents also include image grabs of a slide deck that was presented in January 2023 titled 'Medical and Psychological Care of Gender-Diverse Youth', in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine.
After the revelations, Texas Attorney General General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into TCH, and the Houston-based facility said again that it was halting gender reassignment treatments for children.
At the time, a TCH spokeswoman told DailyMail.com that doctors provided 'high-quality care for all patients … within the bounds of the law.'
Advocates of gender-affirming care say it is necessary treatment for suicide-prone minors. Critics say kids are too young to opt for irreversible sex change treatments, and often just need mental health counselling instead.
