Texas AG sues doctor who allegedly provided transgender care to 21 minors

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a Dallas doctor on Thursday for providing transition-related care for nearly two dozen minors, violating state law.

Paxton alleged that Dr. May Chi Lau, who specializes in adolescent medicine, provided hormone-replacement therapy to 21 minors between October 2023 and August for the purpose of transitioning genders. In 2023, Texas enacted a law banning hormone-replacement therapy and other forms of gender-affirming care for minors.

"Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects," Paxton said in a statement. "Doctors who continue to provide these harmful 'gender transition' drugs and treatments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

The statement issued by Paxton's office alleged that Lau used "false diagnoses and billing codes" in order to mask "unlawful prescriptions."

Lau's employer, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Paxton's suit is the first in the nation by an attorney general against an individual doctor for allegedly violating a restriction on transition-related care for minors.