Dive Brief:
- MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. has been hit with a discrimination complaint from a transgender woman for whom it declined to perform breast implant surgery.
- The woman says the hospital initially cleared her for surgery, but by the time she obtained health insurance approval five months later, the hospital said it was no longer accepting transgender women for surgery. At least two other female transgender clients were also denied breast surgery at about the same time, according to the plaintiff.
- If the D.C. Office of Human Rights finds that the hospital violated the Human Rights Act by denying a procedure to transgender women that it does provide to others, the case could pose a high-profile issue before D.C. and federal courts, a civil rights attorney says.
Dive Insight:
At issue is the fact that MedStar Georgetown apparently previously performed such surgeries, and that some people aren't buying its reason for stopping: that it doesn't have a comprehensive program for gender transition.
"Our conclusion has been that a high quality gender transition service is best delivered in the context of an integrated program rather than in a one-off manner, and such a program does not exist at MedStar Georgetown," said a statement from the hospital.
However, civil rights attorney Brian Markovitz says this argument could be undermined by the fact that the client was referred from a gender transition program at Whitman-Walker Health that provided the other necessary expertise.
Rumors have swirled that transgender-related surgery was discontinued at the hospital due to complaints from conservative Catholic officials affiliated with Georgetown University. While the hospital could argue that certain procedures are against church teachings, Markovitz says, he expects that since it is open to the public and operating as a public accommodation, the Human Rights Office would most likely rule that it is bound by the D.C. Human Rights Act.
Want to read more? You may enjoy this story about 5 ways providers can deliver better care to LGBT consumers.