ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced an investigation into allegations made by a former employee of a St. Louis transgender care center, and Senator Josh Hawley is calling for a federal investigation.
In a statement, Bailey said his office has been investigating the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital for two weeks after a whistleblower contacted his office. He said he was announcing the investigation after an article written by the former employee, Jamie Reed, was published online Thursday.
In the article, Reed alleges the center was not doing its due diligence to thoroughly assess patients before moving ahead with treatment and would disregard the rights of parents. Reed also said the center was providing medication to children without making sure the patients understood the effects.
Bailey called the allegations disturbing and said his office has launched a multi-agency investigation that includes the Missouri Department of Social Services and the Division of Professional Registration.
In his announcement, he also included Reed's sworn affidavit, which can be found online here.
In a statement, Washington University said they were "alarmed by the allegations reported in the article" and are "looking into the situation to ascertain the facts."
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, in a series of tweets posted this afternoon, said his office is directing Washington University and the Transgender Clinic to preserve all documentation. He says he also talked to the Chancellor of Washington University who said he was “appalled” by the report and said the University will cooperate fully.
Washington University's full statement is as follows:
"We are alarmed by the allegations reported in the article published by The Free Press describing practices and behaviors the author says she witnessed while employed at the university’s Transgender Center. We are taking this matter very seriously and have already begun the process of looking into the situation to ascertain the facts. As always, our highest priority is the health and well-being of our patients. We are committed to providing compassionate, family-centered care to all of our patients and we hold our medical practitioners to the highest professional and ethical standards."
PROMO, Missouri’s statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, provided the following statement:
"Through PROMO’s work, we have heard dozens upon dozens of positive personal stories from transgender and gender non-conforming youth and families about the ethic of care they’ve received throughout their time at the Washington University Transgender Center. We’ve also sat in rooms with over 30 parents who have shared stories about how their children thrived when they received interdisciplinary, holistic care from a team of providers at the Gender Center. We have no insight into these allegations and accusations from one person."
