Names of patients in gender-affirming care lawsuit released in public records request

The names of patients at the center of the state’s lawsuits against physicians accused of violating Texas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors were mistakenly released through a public records request to the Collin County District Clerk’s office.

A Feb. 20 case filing by attorneys with Children’s Health hospital system provided to KERA News included the unredacted names and dates of birth of the 15 patients — some of them minors — implicated in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against pediatrician Dr. M. Brett Cooper. KERA News will not publish the patients’ names.

“Regrettably, during the filing of a motion for protection on behalf of our client, confidential information was inadvertently disclosed in an unredacted attachment,” a statement from attorneys representing Children’s Health read. “Upon identification of this issue, immediate steps were taken to secure all confidential information and ensure its removal from the public record.”

Collin County District Clerk Mike Gould said filing parties are responsible for redacting sensitive information.

Paxton has alleged that Cooper, as well as Dr. May Lau and Dr. Hector Granados, violated Senate Bill 14 by prescribing hormone therapy to minors after the law went into effect Sept. 1, 2023. The unnamed patients in all three cases are not defendants.

State attorneys subpoenaed Children’s Health System of Texas and UT Southwestern Medical Center in January for patients’ therapy notes, medical and billing records and communication with Cooper and Lau. Both doctors are UT Southwestern employees with medical privileges at Children’s Health.

The law firm Winston & Strawn represents 22 unnamed patients of Cooper and Lau in their effort to protect their medical information from the state’s subpoena.

William Logan, one of the patients’ attorneys, said the clerical error that resulted in Cooper’s patients’ names being shared underscores his clients’ privacy concerns.

“Imagine the state wants their full, unredacted psychiatry records,” he said in a phone interview. “Just as easily a mistake could happen, and a patient’s full psychiatry records could be available for public view. We think that’s inappropriate, and that’s why we’re fighting so hard to make sure that the state follows the law.”

Logan added Children’s Health has been “an ally of the patients” throughout case proceedings.

KERA News has also reached out to attorneys representing the state, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Cooper and Lau.

Lau and Cooper’s cases are pending in the 493rd District Court in Collin County, where attorneys for both doctors have separately asked Judge Christine Nowak to transfer the cases to either Dallas or Travis County, where patients were treated. Nowak denied each doctor’s motion to dismiss Friday.

Cooper’s attorneys also asked the court for a gag order in the case after Paxton made numerous statements to the media, according to the Dallas Morning News.

A hearing in the Dallas County case for a protective order from the state’s subpoenas of patient records is scheduled for Thursday.

This story will be updated.

Got a tip? Email Kailey Broussard at [email protected].

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