One of the first doctors in the country accused of illegally providing care to transgender youth under new GOP-led bans has been cleared of wrongdoing, according to a statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office nearly a year after the state filed suit.
“No legal violations were found” following a “review of the evidence and Granados’ complete medical records,” Paxton’s office confirmed last week in a quiet withdrawal of the case.
According to the Associated Press, Dr. Hector Granados, a pediatric endocrinologist in El Paso, was sued in October by Paxton’s office, which accused him of violating Texas’ 2023 law banning gender-affirming care for minors and labeled him a “scofflaw” allegedly guilty of falsifying medical records.
Texas’ lawsuit against Granados called him a “scofflaw who is harming the health and safety of Texas children.” It referenced a 2015 news article about transgender care that quoted Granados and medical articles he had written on the topic.
The lawsuit was part of a broader legal offensive launched by Texas, the first state to sue doctors under the new wave of state-level bans. Two other physicians in Dallas — Dr. May Lau and Dr. M. Brett Cooper — are still facing legal action.
Paxton’s office said in a statement that Dr. May Lau and Dr. M. Brett Cooper, the other accused physicians, will “face justice for hurting Texas kids both physically and mentally.”
“Attorney General Paxton will continue to bring the full force of the law against the delusional, left-wing medical professionals guilty of forcing ‘gender’ insanity on our children,” the office added.
Granados, who says Paxton’s office never contacted him before filing the lawsuit, told Fox News Digital he would have gladly shown that he halted gender-affirming treatments before the law went into effect.
“It was just out and then we had to do everything afterwards,” Granados said in an interview.
According to his legal team, once a protective order was in place, they were able to confidentially produce patient records to prove Granados was in compliance. His attorney, Mark Bracken, confirmed that data was shared securely and cleared his client of any violation.
Granados maintains he only continued to prescribe puberty blockers and hormone therapy for endocrine disorders, not for gender transition.
He said that after the ban, he did continue to prescribe puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, but that those treatments were not for gender transition. Granados said they were for youth with endocrine disorders, which occur when hormone levels are too high or too low.
Granados, whose pediatric practice also serves children with diabetes, growth issues, and early puberty, described his former transgender patients as a small part of his overall caseload.
Still, the lawsuit had a major impact on his life and work.
“It always puts a toll on you and how you feel,” Granados said. “I’m grateful to no longer have the lawsuit on the back of my mind.”
Critics of Paxton’s actions have blasted the AG for using lawsuits as a political weapon.
“I think this continues to be best understood as part of the Texas AG’s campaign to intimidate medical providers,” said Harper Seldin, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project.
“Even when a lawsuit is dropped, it still takes an enormous toll.”
Peter Salib, a law professor at the University of Houston, called it “unusual” for the state to file a lawsuit without first confirming violations.
“They have a lot of opportunity to find out what is going on before they decide to bring a lawsuit,” Salib said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that states can ban gender-affirming medical care for minors. At least 27 states now have such laws. In Texas, violating the ban is not a criminal offense, but it carries the threat of fines and medical license revocation.
Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has aligned himself with the GOP’s hard-right push on transgender issues and is currently running for U.S. Senate. Trump himself has vowed to roll back protections for transgender Americans in his second term, part of a broader crackdown on gender ideology across state and federal levels.
Even in states without bans, many hospitals have voluntarily restricted gender-affirming care due to mounting political pressure.
Granados’ case may be over, but the political and legal war over transgender youth healthcare is far from finished — and doctors across the country are watching closely.
