AG Paxton expands lawsuits against Texas doctors over gender-affirming care for minors

Kera News | December 10, 2025
Original article can be viewed HERE

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has expanded lawsuits against two North Texas physicians accused of unlawfully providing gender-affirming care to minors, adding new claims that they falsified records to conceal the treatments.

Paxton’s office announced additional allegations on Wednesday against Dr. May Lau and Dr. M. Brett Cooper, who were among three Texas doctors the state sued last year for allegedly violating Senate Bill 14, a 2023 law that bans gender-affirming medical care for minors.

The law prohibits treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and certain surgical procedures for people under 18. It was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court in 2024 after legal challenges from families and physicians who argued the restrictions would endanger transgender youth.

The attorney general’s office said Wednesday that new evidence shows Lau and Cooper took deliberate steps to hide the care they provided by falsifying medical records, altering diagnosis codes and submitting deceptive billing information. According to court records, the doctors allegedly used misleading billing records to disguise gender-affirming treatments and obtain Medicaid reimbursement for services that Texas law doesn’t allow.

In announcing the new claims, Paxton characterized the allegations as an effort to conceal “cruel child abuse” and a misuse taxpayer funds. Attorneys for Cooper didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, although Craig Smyser, one of Lau’s attorney’s, told The Texas Newsroom that Paxton’s allegations were “false in every material aspect.”

“Dr. Lau did not force any treatment on any of her patients and her care complied with Texas and federal law in every respect,” Smyser said.

Lau, an adolescent medicine specialist formerly affiliated with Children’s Medical Center Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center, was accused of providing hormone treatments to nearly two dozen minors after the ban took effect. She surrendered her medical license in October after the state’s initial lawsuit. According to Smyser, Lau was moving her medical practice to Oregon and no longer saw a reason to continue to maintain her Texas license.

Just weeks later, Cooper, a pediatrician affiliated with the same institutions, was accused of continuing to prescribe testosterone to multiple patients after SB 14 was implemented, along with altering diagnosis codes to disguise the care. Cooper remains licensed to practice, according to state records.

Paxton’s office also sued a pediatric endocrinologist in El Paso for similar allegations in 2024, although the state later dropped that case after finding “no legal violations.”

AG Paxton expands lawsuits against Texas doctors over gender-affirming care for minors

AG Paxton expands lawsuits against Texas doctors over gender-affirming care for minors

Related Posts

DOJ Secures Agreements with NYU and UPMC to End Pediatric “Gender-Affirming Care”

Oregon mother is free to adopt after winning legal battle over gender-ideology mandate

READ IT: The Biden Administration’s Clandestine 5-Year Plan To Trans Child Welfare