最新杏吧原创

A state investigation of the Washington University Transgender Center in 最新杏吧原创 has been expanded to include therapists and social workers across the state who work with minors seeking gender-affirming care.

Documents made public as part of various lawsuits show that Attorney General Andrew Bailey has obtained a collection of unredacted and loosely redacted records of transgender children, including a list of patients who received care at the Washington University Transgender Center at 最新杏吧原创 Children鈥檚 Hospital.

He is also seeking access to the university鈥檚 digital medical records system.

The attorney general鈥檚 use of private medical records and the targeting of therapists and counselors has interrupted the health care of LGBTQ Missourians and has families worrying about their children鈥檚 privacy.

The saga began last year when Bailey launched an investigation based on an affidavit from Washington University whistleblower Jamie Reed. Bailey is using the affidavit to question other gender-affirming-care providers such as Planned Parenthood, which he has said he hopes to 鈥渆radicate.鈥�

The probe involves the Missouri Division of Professional Registration, which oversees medical licensing in the state. According to records obtained by The Independent, the agency interviewed 57 health professionals as part of the inquiry and had 16 cases open as of early May.

While Bailey announced the division would assist in the investigation when he first announced it, therapists did not expect to be included 鈥� or have their license to practice put at risk.

The division鈥檚 chief legal counsel, Sarah Ledgerwood, told The Independent that the division and its boards can鈥檛 join other officials鈥� investigations. When asked about Bailey鈥檚 investigation, she said the boards 鈥渃an only complete investigations based on receipt of a complaint.鈥�

Division Director Sheila Solon said last year that she anticipated complaints as part of the attorney general鈥檚 investigation.

Kelly Storck, a licensed clinical social worker with a focus on LGBTQ-positive therapy, was interviewed last year and expressed grave concerns about unredacted medical records of minors being in the hands of a state official who has repeatedly opposed gender-affirming care.

When the division contacted Storck for an interview, she hired a lawyer before meeting with the investigator.

During the meeting, she says the investigator had a small stack of unredacted letters Storck had sent the Transgender Center to recommend clients for gender-affirming care.

Storck recalled senior investigator Nick McBroom telling her he wasn鈥檛 fully sure what he was doing, saying she was taking the interview more seriously than it was. He questioned why she had a lawyer.

McBroom asked about the process of writing letters of support, Storck said, opening a file with just a portion of the letters she had sent to the Transgender Center. She said she noticed the documents had green underlines added and asked McBroom if they were his edits. He didn鈥檛 seem to know the source of the underlines.

After a 30- to 45-minute interview, McBroom asked her to write up her process. Through her attorney, she declined, and her case was closed soon after.

McBroom declined to speak to The Independent about the case.

鈥淚 still have a lot of distrust about who initiated it,鈥� Storck said, 鈥渁nd who was in my documents.鈥�

Parents of transgender children told The Independent they have heard whispers of other therapists facing investigation.

Multiple providers declined to be interviewed about the investigation out of fear of retaliation. Storck, though, had already faced the attorney general as one of the plaintiffs attempting to block an emergency rule targeting transgender care filed by Bailey last year.

A fight for patient privacy

A legal battle between Washington University and the attorney general鈥檚 office shows the records used in the interviews may have directly come from the university itself.

In the attorney general鈥檚 office鈥檚 response to the litigation, a timeline is laid out of the university turning over three sets of documents. In its second document production, Washington University gave the attorney general a list of patients in a spreadsheet.

鈥淭he supplemental production included a spreadsheet titled 鈥楾ransgender Patient data,鈥欌�� the attorney general鈥檚 office wrote. 鈥淲hich included various workbooks chronicling patient names, encounters and medications, among other information.鈥�

The attorney general鈥檚 office has declined to comment about the scope of the investigation and the source of investigative documents. Washington University also declined comment.

People who have received care at the Transgender Center have asked to be notified if their health records are accessed, but many assume some of their information is already in the attorney general鈥檚 hands.

The Independent asked Reed if she provided any of the documents to the attorney general.

鈥淚 cannot definitively say what the therapists are being handed (or) where it came from,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 really know where those things directly came from. The one thing I will add is that any documents that were provided to the attorney general鈥檚 office from me were redacted.鈥�

Reed said she did not give any documents that would be stored in the electronic health records software Epic. When asked where else the records could come from, she said, 鈥渆mail or shared drive.鈥�

The records investigators had of Storck鈥檚 patients included names, something Reed said she redacted before providing to the attorney general.

Becky Hormuth and her 17-year-old son, Levi, who was a patient at the Transgender Center, have been hearing about the scope of Bailey鈥檚 investigation for months.

They learned that the attorney general鈥檚 office had been looking into Levi鈥檚 psychologist鈥檚 records and heard about other providers that had interviews related to their support for gender-affirming care.

Levi said the attorney general鈥檚 work seemed like 鈥渃omplete government overreach.鈥�

Bailey鈥檚 actions, including a tip line about gender-affirming care and an emergency rule that sought to limit access to certain procedures and prescriptions, prompted Hormuth to prepare to move out of state.

鈥淚t is very invasive, what he鈥檚 doing,鈥� she told The Independent. 鈥淭he state has already basically disrupted our lives. They鈥檝e disrupted our families, our children鈥檚 lives with the legislation that has passed. Then for him to continue going on is even more invasive and damaging.鈥�

When lawmakers passed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors that included a provision that allowed broad medical malpractice claims, the Transgender Center stopped providing Levi鈥檚 medication.

Hormuth learned from other parents to make her son鈥檚 medication stretch, just in case it would be a long time before a refill.

She had requested an appointment with a provider in Illinois prior to the law鈥檚 passage, and Levi was on a waiting list. The center told her at the time that they weren鈥檛 taking new out-of-state patients because there was already a large influx from multiple states.

But eventually, Hormuth got a call that they were ready to take out-of-state patients. So she and Levi make periodic trips to Chicago to go to the doctor.

Levi is old enough to receive hormone-replacement therapy at the Planned Parenthood of the 最新杏吧原创 Region鈥檚 clinics, which accept transgender patients 16 and older for gender-affirming care.

But Hormuth wanted to take her son someplace outside of Bailey鈥檚 reach.

鈥淚 was absolutely dead set against going to Planned Parenthood locally because I knew that as soon as we would establish ourselves at Planned Parenthood ... that (Bailey) was going to come there and start digging through those papers and those personal records,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 absolutely was not going to give him the chance at any other aspect of our family鈥檚 life.鈥�

Both branches of Planned Parenthood in Missouri are also subjects of Bailey鈥檚 investigation, according to court filings, despite the attorney general鈥檚 office only publicly announcing an investigation into the Transgender Center.

The attorney general is not allowed to investigate medical malpractice claims, but it can look into false advertising under the state鈥檚 consumer protection law, known as the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

Bailey used that law to file an emergency rule, which he later rescinded before a court case could decide its bounds, and he is utilizing it again to dig into gender-affirming-care providers.

In a case in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Bailey鈥檚 office admits the investigation into the Washington University Transgender Center at 最新杏吧原创 Children鈥檚 Hospital has multiple subjects.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains filed a lawsuit to avoid the attorney general鈥檚 civil investigative demands which it argued sought sweeping information about its practice and patients.

In court documents, Solicitor General Josh Divine wrote that the civil investigative demand was looking into the organization and others in addition to the Transgender Center.

鈥淭he attorney general is investigating (the Transgender Center) and 鈥榦thers in the state鈥� who 鈥榤ay have used deception, fraud, false promises, misrepresentation, unfair practices, and/or the concealment, suppression, or omission of material facts within the scope of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act,鈥欌�� Divine wrote. 鈥淭he attorney general has already made unequivocally clear that (Planned Parenthood) is under investigation.鈥�

Similar arguments are on display in a case between the Planned Parenthood affiliate in 最新杏吧原创 and the attorney general鈥檚 office.

鈥�(Bailey鈥檚) request encompasses hundreds, if not thousands, of patient records concerning treatment decisions, discussions with physicians, mental health assessments and prescription information, among other areas,鈥� Planned Parenthood鈥檚 attorney wrote in its lawsuit.

Judges ruled in favor of the attorney general鈥檚 office in both cases, which have been recently appealed.

A case filed by Children鈥檚 Mercy Hospital in Kansas City against Bailey鈥檚 investigative demands also went in favor of the attorney general.

Washington University鈥檚 case against the attorney general鈥檚 office is yet to be decided.

This fall, the attorney general鈥檚 office will defend the state in a case that seeks to reverse a ban on gender-affirming care for minors passed last legislative session.

Storck said the inquiry has compounded anxieties about access to gender-affirming care that patients have following the passage of the ban.

鈥淚 really was so afraid that some of my clients were going to be in absolute emergent situations and really struggle to get access to health care,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y patients have connected with what they need, but it is now an all-day or multiple-day event to get medical care. Previously, they could have gotten it (within two hours).鈥�