June 17 - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), together with four Republican-led states, is preparing a lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), according to a senior FTC official. The action accuses the nonprofit, which issues clinical guidance for transgender care, of making misleading statements about gender-affirming treatments for young people.
The states planning to join the suit are Texas, Iowa, Nebraska and Alaska. The FTC and those states are expected to argue that WPATH mischaracterized both the risks associated with some gender-affirming interventions and the strength of evidence tying such care to reductions in suicide risk among children and adolescents with gender dysphoria.
Officials are also anticipated to assert that WPATH sought to expand insurance coverage for treatments in ways that would create financial advantages for its members. The complaint is framed as an allegation of deceptive or misleading representations directed at physicians and families weighing treatment options.
The anticipated litigation is the latest in a series of federal and state moves to limit gender-affirming medical care for minors under the Trump administration. The administration has taken steps in its second term to restrict access for minors and has established a policy recognizing only sex as assigned at birth for federal purposes. LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations have criticized and mounted legal challenges against those administration policies, calling them harmful and discriminatory.
Under FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, the agency has broadened inquiries into how medical organizations communicate about gender-affirming care for minors. The FTC's inquiry has included WPATH and other professional bodies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics. While the FTC is not a medical regulator, the agency has a history of suing entities it says used false claims to market health products and services.
WPATH has responded by suing to block the FTC's probe. The organization says its approach supports individualized patient care rather than a "one size fits all" model and that its guidance reflects established scientific standards, expert consensus, and patient-centered values. A judge in May blocked the FTC's subpoena, finding that WPATH would likely be able to show the probe was a retaliatory action tied to its support for gender-affirming care.
The debate over treatment is focused in part on the nature and range of gender-transition care. Such care can include nonmedical support like assistance in adopting a preferred name or pronoun, as well as medical interventions such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies, or surgery. Medical interventions are typically provided to individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition characterized by distress when a person's gender identity does not align with the sex assigned at birth.
A 2023 study of health records by UCLA, cited in filings and commentary around the case, estimated that nearly 1.5 million people aged 13 to 24 in the United States identify as transgender. The changing policy environment and scrutiny have led some health care providers to curtail or withdraw services for minors, prompting reports that some families are considering relocating to other states to access treatment.
The forthcoming FTC lawsuit underscores the intersection of consumer-protection law, medical guidance, and public policy as regulators and states scrutinize professional recommendations and the potential financial incentives of advocacy within medical communities.