EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Citizen interviews Dr. Eithan Haim, the surgeon who exposed a secret transgender medical program at Texas Children’s Hospital

|

This article is the first in a two-part series examining the case against Dr. Eithan Haim, a surgeon and whistleblower being unfairly investigated by the Department of Justice. Part One features Dr. Haim’s perspective. To read Part Two, featuring comments from Dr. Haim’s lawyer, Marcella Burke, click here.

WATCH DR. HAIM’S INTERVIEW WITH DR. PHIL

Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) made national news last May when an anonymous whistleblower revealed the hospital was performing transgender medical interventions on minors in secret — more than a year after the institution supposedly shut the program down.

Now, the doctor who exposed TCH’s dangerous treatments faces a federal investigation for violating patient privacy laws — a crime he did not commit.

When Dr. Eithan Haim entered residency at Baylor College of Medicine, he hadn’t thought much about transgender medical interventions at all.

“It seemed like such a fringe issue,” Haim tells the Daily Citizen. “I never thought it would happen outside place like California or Oregon, and definitely not at a hospital I worked at.”

He quickly found himself embroiled in the unthinkable — practicing as a surgical resident in a hospital performing secret, “gender-affirming” surgeries on minors as young as 11 years old.

Haim enlisted investigative journalist Christopher Rufo to help expose the hospital’s deception. The federal government launched an investigation within a month of the story going live — not of TCH, but of Haim himself.

His lawyer, Marcella Burke, calls the probe “an atrocious abuse of power.”

“The prosecutors could not produce any evidence that any HIPAA violation occurred, and we have asked for it many times,” she explains. “All patient information on documents that Rufo published was redacted. So, either someone intentionally misrepresented this critical fact — that no patient names were released — or the investigation proceeded without anyone verifying very basic facts.”

In the midst of his legal battle, Haim sat down with the Daily Citizen to talk about his experience with gender ideology in medicine, why he went public, and the sacrifices it takes to stand up to evil.

Daily Citizen: When did you realize something was wrong at TCH?

Haim: In February 2022, the Attorney General of Texas released an opinion stating that hormone-based interventions for people under 18 years old could be investigated as child abuse. Shortly after that, the hospital announced they were going to stop prescribing these interventions for children with gender dysphoria because of the legal risks involved.

But a couple months later, soon after I saw the hospital’s statement, other residents started telling me how they had implanted puberty blocking devices into, 11-, 12-, 13-year-old kids with gender dysphoria. They told me that these kids’ psychiatric issues were being ignored, and that some had family members who are transgender — which would raise obvious [red flags].

Daily Citizen: What was your reaction to these stories?

Haim: I thought there was no way that the world’s biggest children’s hospital would release a statement about stopping transgender interventions for minors, and then continue them behind closed doors.

But I quickly realized that, not only were they continuing these interventions, but they had expanded the scope of the practice. The directors of the transgender program, that wasn’t supposed to exist, even spoke at the hospital’s most prestigious lecture series in January 2023.

I was convinced the hospital must have announced that they’d restarted the kids’ transgender program. But there was no indication it existed anywhere on their website. That’s important because every clinic at TCH has a website so parents have a place to schedule appointments, ask questions and find doctors. The lack of information online just supported the fact that they were concealing this from the public.

So then, I had a decision to make: Do I stay silent and just go on with my life or do I take this to the public?

Daily Citizen: You watched TCH not only expand the secret transgender medical interventions but teach other pediatricians to emulate their deceptions. What incentives do doctors have to perpetuate and spread this ideology?

Haim: I think it has to do with playing God. Performing these surgeries on kids gives them the ability to create something new, something mimicking their own version of a perfect human. It’s a crisis of meaning, because the actual goal of medicine is not to create something new, but to preserve and strengthen what’s already been created.

Daily Citizen: What do the hospitals get out of pushing this ideology?

Haim: I think a good portion of it is profit. When you plug kids into the medical system at 11, 12, 13 years old, they become medical patients for the rest of their lives. The amount of money these kids will bring into the medical system over the course of just a few years is unimaginable.

Daily Citizen: What are the medical consequences of performing transgender medical interventions on minors? Are they as “safe and effective” as some advocacy organizations claim?

Haim: Statements from organizations saying these interventions are safe, effective or evidence-based are lies. There’s no way to draw those conclusions from the studies they’ve put out there, because [the studies] are so skewed by confounding variables and poor design. (See this recent editorial published in the prestigious British Medical Journal.)

And the drugs doctors use as puberty blockers aren’t supposed to be used long-term because of the side effects.

Doctors use gonadotropin releasing hormone (GNRH) analogs to treat things like endometriosis. They only recommend it for six months — hard stop — because of its effect on bones, and because it can cause menopausal symptoms. Prostate cancer drugs are employed for a similar time frame, because of the side effects and the chance of tumors becoming resistant.

But, somehow, when they’re used as puberty blockers, doctors will treat people with GNRH analogs and prostate cancer drugs for years.

Daily Citizen: You say these hormone interventions can be more serious than transgender surgical procedures? Why?

Haim: Because taking these medications during adolescence is like undergoing a million micro-surgeries to your bones, heart and blood vessels every single day. The changes are more gradual than a surgery, so people tend to think hormone-based interventions aren’t so bad. But there’s no surgery that can prevent your secondary sexual characteristics from developing. There’s no surgery that can cause your bones to become that of a 65-year-old woman. There’s no surgery in the world that can cause your brain not to develop.

Nothing can do those things except for these medications.

Daily Citizen: If the medical community knows about the side effects of these interventions, why do doctors stay silent?

These academic medical institutions have been completely captured by ideological radicals who punish any form of dissent with the most severe consequences. If you speak out, you know there’s a good chance you’re going to be fired.

So, people who disagree with the ideology have to meet in dark corners — literally.

Daily Citizen: You know more than most the consequences that can come from speaking up. When did you realize you were the target of a federal investigation?

Haim: I figured that out on the day of my graduation from surgical training — June 23rd, 2023. I was anonymous at this point and getting ready to celebrate one of the most important days of my life. Two federal agents from Health and Human Services came to my house around noon and told me they were investigating a case regarding medical records.

My wife, who is an attorney, and I told them we wouldn’t participate in an interview without an attorney present. So the officers left me with a target letter, which is a piece of paper saying I was a potential target of a criminal investigation.

A few minutes after the door opens, the door closes, and we knew our life had been permanently changed.

Daily Citizen: What were you and your wife’s thought processes after the officers left?

Haim: We were at a crossroads. We had to decide whether to submit to the investigation or fight it —admit to something that never happened to get on with our lives, or risk our livelihoods and freedom to do the right thing.

We decided that there’s no question. Of course we have to fight it, because if we don’t, then what kind of world are we delivering to our children?

Daily Citizen: After the officers come to your door, you’re still an anonymous whistleblower. What prompted you to attach your name to the story?

Haim: I decided to go public in January 2024 because of all the misconduct and corruption we had experienced in our case. I realized that the federal government was working hard to silence me and, more than that, erode the moral foundations of medicine.

Daily Citizen: How is that?

Haim: By silencing me, and others like me, the federal government is [sabotaging the fundamental relationship between doctor and patient, which is to provide care].

People think medicine is driven by science, but it’s not. It’s driven by our recognition of human dignity.

That’s why surgeons take operating on someone so seriously. Before I take anyone into OR, I meet with them beforehand to tell them about the surgery and explain the risks. I enter a mutual relationship with patients built on their faith that I [will do my utmost] to care for them.

Without acknowledging the worth of the individual, doctors can’t take care of their patients. The same thing happens when doctors can’t stand up and do what’s legally right.

Daily Citizen: What can Daily Citizen readers do to aid your legal fight?

Haim: People can donate to our legal fund, which contributes not only towards defending myself, but toward offensive measures to obtain accountability. That means pursuing legal means to hold accountable medical and government institutions that have abused their authority.

Daily Citizen: Having experienced some of the consequences of speaking out, do you regret shedding light on TCH’s deception?

Haim: You know, my wife and I have sacrificed so much — not just our employment, but hundreds of thousands of dollars that we had saved at the beginning of our careers. But, for us, it’s the best possible investment we could have made. Those consequences are so small compared to the benefits of being truthful and living with dignity. Anything we have is worth sacrificing for that.

Additional Articles and Resources

U.K.’s Review of Child Gender Policy Reveals Profound Failures that U.S. Still Defends

The WPATH Files Exposes ‘Surgical and Hormonal Experiments on Children’

England’s NHS Stops Dispensing Puberty Blockers for Children — Not Safe or Effective

Former ‘Transgender Clinic’ Worker Blows the Whistle, Becomes First to Speak Out Against ‘Transitioning’ Minors

’Tis the season for holiday reading!
Check out Daily Citizen’s cheery winter reads.