Texas doctor facing charges of illegally accessing transgender patient records
DALLAS – A Texas doctor and self-described whistleblower on pediatric transgender care is facing federal charges of illegally accessing information of patients not under his care, the Department of Justice announced in a news release.
Eithan David Haim, 34, has publicly outed himself as a whistleblower who leaked information on transgender patients at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to a conservative activist, according to the Associated Press. Haim appeared Monday in a Houston federal court, pleaded not guilty to four counts of wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information and was released on $10,000 bond.
“Dr. Haim did not break the law and he looks forward to his day in court,” Ryan Patrick, an attorney for Haim, wrote in an email. “The government has their facts wrong.”
The release said Haim in 2023 obtained personal information, including names, treatment codes and attending physicians on patients from Texas Children’s Hospital without authorization. An indictment filed against him said Haim had served a residency at the hospital, and in 2023, requested for his expired login credentials to be reinstated. According to the indictment, Haim said he needed to access records in anticipation of treating adults, but in fact never had any such patients.
The indictment said Haim accessed the personal information of three patients and provided the information to a media contact, who then published the information on X and other online media sites. The indictment said the release of information resulted in delays to patient care, financial loss to the hospital and threats and harm to the hospital’s patients and staff.
Public records show Haim has an address in Rockwall County and he appears to work for Hunt Regional Medical Partners, northeast of Dallas.
A letter written by Haim’s attorneys posted to X said he accessed the patient records in May 2023 to “reveal” that the Houston hospital was performing “transgender medical procedures” on children after the hospital took a public oath to stop performing such procedures. At the time of the leak, such procedures in Texas were legal, but were later banned by SB 14, which became law in September 2023.
But on May 18, 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a “request to examine” letter to Texas Children’s Hospital to investigate whether it was “engaging in illegal behavior” by performing gender-affirming procedures or treatments on youth.
At the time, Texas Children’s responded to the investigation announcement by saying the institution’s mission is to provide high-quality care to all of its patients.
If convicted, Haim faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.