FTC investigative demands to medical associations over their clinical guidance, enjoined

Editor's note: a federal court found two of the demands were likely issued in retaliation for protected speech and enjoined them.

In January and February 2026 the Federal Trade Commission issued civil investigative demands to three professional medical associations over their clinical guidance on gender-affirming care, seeking years of internal records, communications, financial information, and conference materials. All three sued in the District of Columbia, arguing the demands were retaliation for protected speech.

In May 2026, Chief Judge James Boasberg granted preliminary injunctions. In the WPATH case he wrote that the record strongly suggests the demand issued at least in part because of hostility toward the organization's viewpoint, and that on the preliminary record, with extensive evidence of animus and wafer-thin justifications lacking evidentiary support, WPATH was likely to show a causal link between its speech and the demand. He noted that administration officials had publicly attacked the organization before the investigation began. In the parallel Endocrine Society case he wrote that the agency's actions raised serious concerns that its investigatory power was being used not to police commercial fraud but to target disfavored speech and advocacy. The American Academy of Pediatrics case, before Judge Christopher Cooper, was argued on May 21, 2026 and taken under advisement; no injunction ruling followed.

On June 17, 2026 the FTC, joined by Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas, filed a 123-page complaint against WPATH in the Northern District of Texas, alleging that its Standards of Care made deceptive or unsubstantiated claims about the safety, efficacy, and medical necessity of treatments for minors, and that doctors repeated those claims to consumers. Chairman Ferguson said parents have a right to make informed decisions about their children's health. The Department of Health and Human Services supported the action, citing its own review questioning the standards, a review that major medical organizations have disputed. The FTC then withdrew its demands to all three groups, including WPATH, saying they were no longer necessary given the evidence against WPATH; the Pediatrics case was dismissed on stipulation in August 2026, and in September 2026 the FTC and the Endocrine Society agreed to dismiss the Society's suit without prejudice. WPATH says its guidelines call for individualized rather than uniform care. Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown called the suit a significant expansion of the agency's approach, observing that it has rarely if ever examined the scientific justification for clinical guidelines. The injunctions are preliminary, the Texas suit is pending, and no court has resolved the merits. The FTC's demand to Media Matters, enjoined on the same theory, is documented at WLE-16.