Vanderbilt University Medical Center is facing a federal civil rights investigation after turning the medical records of transgender patients over to Tennessee’s attorney general, hospital officials have confirmed.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ investigation comes just weeks after two patients sued VUMC for releasing their records to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti late last year.

“We have been contacted by and are working with the Office of Civil Rights,” spokesperson John Howser said in a statement late Thursday. “We have no further comment since this is an ongoing investigation.”

VUMC has come under fire for waiting months before telling patients in June that their medical information was shared late last year, acting only after the existence of the requests emerged as evidence in another court case. The news sparked alarm for many families living in the ruby red state where GOP lawmakers have sought to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and limit LGBTQ rights.

[The hyperventilating and “ruby red state” transphobic projective gaslighting in the article ignores the explanation precisely WHY they were turned over, preferring instead to leave the impression it was a hunt for trans types. Well, no. It’s an illegal billing/billing manipulation/medical insurance fraud case directly related to trans treatment by a doctor in the system that’s being investigated. “Skrmetti’s office added that they chose to investigate after being tipped off in the summer of 2022 “that a VUMC doctor publicly described her manipulation of medical billing codes to evade coverage limitations on gender-related treatment.” Good grief, they work so hard to keep the outrage fires burning. ~ Beege]