Physician faces felony HIPAA charges for leaking private medical of transgender children to anti-LGBTQ activist

Houston physician Eithan Haim (seen here being interviewed by Fox News personality Laura Ingraham) claims to be a "whistleblower." In reality, he is facing federal HIPAA charges for leaking the private medical information of trans children to a conservative activist. The conservative activist in question, Christopher Rufo, once encouraged his followers to falsely label drag queens as "trans strippers" who are coming into schools.

While this story has been mostly ignored by the mainstream news, conservatives and the anti-LGBTQ industry have been wallowing through it like pigs in mud. The physician in question has already appeared on Fox News. Other right-wing sources have anointed him as a "whistleblower." In reality, he is facing felony charges for leaking private medical information of transgender kids to a far-right personality who once advised people to label drag queens as transgender strippers.

From LGBTQ Nation:

Houston surgeon Eithan Haim has been indicted on four felony counts after he shared public documents revealing the private information of transgender patients – in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal law that protects patients’ medical privacy.

Haim leaked internal documents from Texas Children’s Hospital in 2023 to conservative activist Christopher Rufo, alleging that the hospital had violated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) opinion, which called gender-affirming care “child abuse.” Haim claims that the hospital continued to provide care up until the passing of S.B. 14, a gender-affirming care ban.

 . . . Mandatory reporters for medical abuse concerns are required to first go to the Texas Medical Board and not journalists. Reports for child abuse concerns are required to first go to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. 

 . . .HIPAA regulates how healthcare professionals can share patients’ medical information with third parties and places strict limits in order to protect privacy. Haim claims he had a duty to report what he believed was child abuse, but the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ website says that they are the agency that needs to be reported to, not rightwing activists like Rufo. 

 Moreover, Haim claims that the medical records he leaked to Rufo were anonymized, but Assistant Clinical Professor Carmel Shachar of Harvard Law School told Assigned Media that the records Haim leaked were not de-identified in compliance with HIPAA, meaning that people could figure out who the records originally belonged to. 

This could potentially make the children whose records Haim leaked targets for harassment and bullying. In an interview with Fox News, Haim stated that he believes the charges were “politically motivated.” Shortly after Haim’s documents were released to the public, an investigation was conducted by Paxton into Texas Children’s Hospital’s alleged continuation of gender-affirming care. Houston Public Media reached out for an indication as to whether this investigation is ongoing but did not receive comment. 

 LGBTQ Nation goes on to point out how anti-LGBTQ and far right personalities such as Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik have come out publicly in support of Haim. LGBTQ Nation also shared several questionable tweets and comments Haim has made: 

 Haim has expressed numerous fringe views on his social media as well. In May, he claimed that trans women breastfeeding is “the plight of Western Civilization.” 

 He also said that former President Donald Trump’s felony charges were a “Stalinist show.” 

 Haim said that Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the United States through the COVID-19 pandemic, should be imprisoned.

 An independent investigation by journalist Evan Urquhart found evidence of Haim expressing such views directly in an interview with Rufo, believing that support for gender-affirming care is only an extension of the left-wing “capture” of medical organizations. 

 Christopher Rufo, the person Haim is accused of leaking information to, is himself a controversial figure. Along with various other right-wing personalities, he is heavily involved in falsely claiming that LGBTQ people, specifically drag queens, are sexually grooming children. In 2022, he encouraged his supporters to falsely label drag queens as "trans strippers" coming into schools.