“Doctors would manipulate and convince parents that ‘gender-affirming’ care was lifesaving”: An Interview with Vanessa Sivadge
4th September 2024
When Vanessa Sivadge, a registered nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital, wrote an anonymous op-ed about the hospital’s secret transgender medicine program, two FBI agents showed up at her home shortly thereafter to interrogate her. Last month, the hospital fired her. Dr. Eithan Haim, a general surgeon who worked at the same hospital, received a similar visit from federal agents after he leaked information about the existence of the transgender program to conservative activist Christopher Rufo. The United States government is not kind to conservative whistleblowers.
“We exposed the fact that Texas Children’s Hospital—the largest children’s hospital in the world—was lying to the public about the existence of their transgender program,” Haim wrote. “In part due to the story’s release, the very next day, the Texas Legislature voted, with bipartisan support, to ban transgender medical interventions on minors. The conduct we exposed became illegal in the State of Texas within 24 hours of our story.” Despite that, Haim was investigated and is now being prosecuted on allegations that he mishandled medical records. If convicted, he could face ten years in federal prison and a maximum possible fine of $250,000.