U.S. Justice Department drops case against Texas doctor charged with leaking transgender care data

Dr. Eithan Haim walks out of the Bob Casey United States Courthouse after appearing for an arraignment hearing, June 17, 2024, in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Friday dropped the case against a Texas doctor who called himself a whistleblower on transgender care for minors and was accused of illegally obtaining private information on patients who weren’t under his care.

The dismissal of the case against Dr. Eithan Haim in U.S. district court in Houston comes as the Trump administration in its first week has already issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights.

Prosecutors had said that Haim, a 34-year-old surgeon, took the information and shared it with a conservative activist with “intent to cause malicious harm” to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, one of the nation’s largest pediatric hospitals.

Haim pleaded not guilty in June to four counts of wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information, saying outside the courthouse that he had “done nothing wrong.”

“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, stand up for whistleblowers everywhere,” Haim said in June.

Ryan Patrick, one of Haim’s attorneys, said the dismissal speaks to the veracity of their case, and they “‘are very happy for Dr. Haim and his family that this ordeal is finally over.”

Haim works in the Dallas area but had previously worked at Texas Children’s Hospital as part of his residency. The indictment alleged that Haim asked to reactivate his login there and in 2023 began accessing information on pediatric patients not under his care and then turned it over to a media contact.

Haim has publicly identified himself as the person who gave the information about patients at Texas Children’s to a conservative activist, who published a story that the hospital was providing transgender care for minors in secret.

At the time, transgender care for minors was legal in Texas, but the hospital had announced in 2022 that it would stop would stop gender-affirming care. A ban in Texas on transgender care for minors went into effect in September 2023.

Texas Children’s said in a statement Friday that they “defer to and respect” the Justice Department’s decisions in the case. In previous statements, hospital officials said its doctors have always provided care within the law.

Haim, who had been released on bond, faced up to 10 years in prison and a US$250,000 fine if convicted.

Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press