The Texas Attorney General’s office has sued a Dallas-area doctor for allegedly providing banned gender transition treatments to 21 minors.
This lawsuit is the first major enforcement action since Senate Bill 14 took effect in September 2023.
The law prohibits medical interventions for minors seeking gender transitions, including surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.
In a statement released Thursday, Attorney General Ken Paxton highlighted the state’s commitment to protecting children from what he described as dangerous and irreversible treatments.
“Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects,” Paxton said. “Doctors who continue to provide these harmful ‘gender transition’ drugs and treatments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The lawsuit centers on Dr. Lau, a physician who allegedly provided high-dose testosterone to biological female minors as part of gender transition treatments.
According to the attorney general’s office, Lau used false diagnoses and billing codes to disguise the nature of the treatments, which they claim violated the law and misled pharmacies, insurance companies, and patients alike.
Dr. Lau is employed by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and also serves as the Medical Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
She has published research on adolescent health, including topics related to gender dysphoria, but has not responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.
The state’s lawsuit not only seeks to stop Lau from continuing to prescribe these treatments to minors but also accuses her of deceptive trade practices under the Texas Business and Commerce Code.
If successful, the lawsuit could result in both temporary and permanent injunctions preventing Lau from prescribing supraphysiologic doses of testosterone and estrogen for the purposes of gender transitioning.
Senate Bill 14, which the Texas Supreme Court upheld in June 2023, mandates the Texas Medical Board to revoke the medical licenses of any physicians found violating the law.
This case represents the first in what may be a wave of enforcement actions under the new law.
“The debate in Texas on the legality of dangerous and experimental medical procedures seeking to transition or affirm a child’s belief that their gender identity is inconsistent with their biological sex is over,” the attorney general’s office wrote in the filing.
Paxton’s office has made clear that this lawsuit is just the beginning, signaling a broader crackdown on physicians who provide gender transition treatments to minors.
As the legal process unfolds, the case is likely to reignite the already heated debate over transgender healthcare and children’s rights in Texas.