The Justice Department announced a settlement with the Cleveland Clinic to end "gender-affirming care" at the clinic for two decades, according to a press release.
The clinic also agreed to pay a fine of $308,000 after it was accused of misrepresenting the gender-transitioning care in order to secure insurance coverage.
The hospital called the criticism inaccurate and false and claimed that it did not perform gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 18 years old.
The clinic will also put up $2 million worth of restorative care for people wanting to detransition.
"The Department of Justice is steadfastly committed to protecting America's children. ... Today's resolution with Cleveland Clinic furthers that commitment and puts these providers on notice that this Department will vigorously enforce federal law where children are put at risk," Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said.
The DOJ compared the settlement to one previously reached with the Texas Children's Hospital. The hospital agreed to end sex-rejecting procedures to minors and pay a $10 million penalty.
"These historic commitments pair the cessation of these dangerous practices masquerading as medical treatment with substantial investments in remediating the destruction they cause and restoring the health of the victims," the DOJ said in its press release.
The Cleveland Clinic was bashed by Consumers' Research in 2025 for being one of the most woke hospitals in the U.S. The hospital called the criticism inaccurate and false and claimed that it did not perform gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 18 years old.
"I am grateful that institutions like Cleveland Clinic and Texas Children's have decided to be part of the solution, not part of the problem," said Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division.
"Cleveland Clinic's commitment to providing millions of dollars towards care for detransitioners is emblematic of just that," Shumate added. "I am grateful for this resolution with Cleveland Clinic, but our work is far from over, and our division will continue to work tirelessly to protect America's children and hold accountable those that have preyed on vulnerable children, whether they be pharmaceutical companies or medical providers."
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There is something seriously wrong with American health care. Rising costs mean that Americans now pay nearly twice as much as people in similar countries, without getting better outcomes. “It’s complicated,” say those who want to keep prices high and rising. But some of it is simple, as my organization is showing with research on hospital systems like Cleveland Clinic.
Hospital executives are leading luxurious lifestyles while claiming that every dollar spent — on television commercials, Abu Dhabi real estate, or modern art — is 'health care.'
A longtime household name, Cleveland Clinic presents itself as an altruistic institution focused on health and patients. As a tax-exempt corporation, everything Cleveland Clinic does is subsidized by taxpayers, and it receives many other direct and indirect benefits in the interest of public health. Yet it pays executives millions, has massive holdings overseas, and maintains a collection of fine art.
Why are your health care bills and insurance premiums going up? Why is government spending and borrowing more and more to subsidize care? Look no farther than the misplaced priorities of profit-maximizing “nonprofit” hospitals like Cleveland Clinic.
Recent news has exposed massive waste and fraud against taxpayers in places like Minnesota, California, and Washington state. Yet the problem is deeper and more systemic. Rooting out actual theft is essential. So is confronting waste and abuse, especially within large health care institutions.
Last month, Save Our States launched a campaign calling out a massive hospital system run by the University of Miami. While its transplant center was failing, hospital executives were focused on building a lavish new lobby and expanding into Abu Dhabi.
Our new exposé on Cleveland Clinic found surprisingly similar luxury expenses. It has an in-house art museum, for example, boasting a "world-renowned collection" of nearly 7,000 pieces of contemporary art. Like many hospitals, it spares no expense on public relations and advertising — Cleveland Clinic even ran its own Super Bowl ad.
The clinic pays millions in executive salaries. Those executives are planning a massive new sports center with the Cleveland Cavaliers, to go along with their fancy foreign facilities in places like London, Toronto, and — once again — Abu Dhabi.
How do these expenses benefit American patients? And why should taxpayers subsidize any of it?
Some medical providers do pay taxes. A doctor with an independent practice gets taxed like any other business. But sell that practice to a tax-exempt hospital, even one with billions in revenue, and suddenly it becomes tax-exempt. At the same time, hospital-owned practices often start adding “hospital facility fees” on top of regular bills.
They charge patients more for the same services, then pay less in taxes. No wonder massive hospital systems buy up smaller practices and facilities. These are policy choices, not market forces, driving consolidation in health care. The result is lower quality, higher prices, and misplaced priorities.
RELATED: America has a spending problem Congress refuses to fix
For many Americans, the rising prices go first to their insurance, later showing up in rising premiums and lower take-home pay. And all Americans see the cost in taxes. Everyone pays somehow, in higher costs, less access to care, or both.
Meanwhile, hospital executives are leading luxurious lifestyles while claiming that every dollar spent — on television commercials, Abu Dhabi real estate, or modern art — is “health care.”
During its spending spree, Cleveland Clinic has faced allegations of deceptive billing, accusations of overcharging patients, reports of underpaying nurses, and stories of medical debt lawsuits brought against its own patients.
Our new site, ClevelandClinicBetrayedPatients.com, documents the misplaced priorities of this massive, taxpayer-supported hospital system.
Given that Cleveland Clinic is in Vice President JD Vance's home state of Ohio, hopefully he can make it a focus of his new appointment by President Trump to lead the “war on fraud.” The vice president and congressional leaders need to scrutinize spending at all subsidized hospitals — starting with the biggest.
The question is not: “Does it do some good somewhere?” One good program does not justify waste elsewhere. The question is: “Are any taxpayer dollars subsidizing waste, abuse, or unnecessary extravagance?”
Americans need health systems that respect taxpayers and put patients first. More than anything, we need the kind of competition that creates accountability, demands transparency, fosters innovation, and produces better services at lower prices.
An experienced auto mechanic and small business owner in Cleveland, Ohio, has finally fulfilled a lifelong dream. At age 51, he is now a doctor.
Earlier this year, Dr. Carl Allamby completed a long, circuitous path into medicine that began when he was still a child. Allamby was one of six children. His father was a minister, and his mother was a homemaker. Despite his parents' best efforts though, the family struggled to afford even the most basic necessities. They were on welfare and often couldn't afford gas, electricity, or water.
"And if not for government handouts," Allamby said, "we would have been without food on many occasions."
Though Allamby felt the desire to become a doctor even back then, his difficult circumstances didn't allow him to give the idea much thought. Instead, he took a part-time job at an auto parts store and performed repair jobs on the side. He took to the work quickly and managed to open his first shop at 19.
"In a sense, I started Allamby’s Auto Service mostly out of desperation and necessity," Allamby admitted.
Then, at age 34, he decided to try to grow his business by pursuing a business degree at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio. That decision changed his life.
In his final year there, he was forced to take an introductory biology course to complete the business program. That course once again reignited his interest in medicine.
"Learning about some of the incredible basic functions of the body reminded me of my childhood ambitions to become a doctor," he recalled.
So, he enrolled in pre-med courses at Cuyahoga Community College and began volunteering at a local hospital.
"Initially, I worked in a pediatric ward for immune-compromised children, providing activities for them during their often long-term stay."
By 2015, Allamby was accepted into medical school at Northeast Ohio Medical University. Now, seven years later, Allamby has completed his residency and works as a full-time attending emergency medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic's Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
Despite all the hard work and sacrifice, Allamby has no regrets about leaving the repair shop for the emergency room.
"I cannot be more happy than where I am now," he claimed. "When you look up and the day is over and it’s time to go home, you cannot believe nine hours has passed. I leave so energized."
He also acknowledges that he wouldn't be a doctor, if it weren't for his family.
"My saving grace [growing up] was our strong family structure," he said. "My siblings and I always stuck together and weathered our hardships as a team."
Now a husband and father of four, Allamby said that his family, especially his wife Kim, continues to support him. He also hopes that his story will inspire others to pursue their dreams.
"I feel we all have the opportunity to make our lives better. If you want it, go after it," he said. "Don’t give up.
"Plan your work and work your plan," he continued. "Your sacrifices today will produce advantages for tomorrow."
A 9-year-old boy is being denied a kidney transplant by a hospital because his father is not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Tanner Donaldson is a regular third-grader who loves to play basketball and lacrosse. However, Tanner was born with one kidney, and it only functions between 18-20% of maximum capacity.
"He was born with a birth defect called posterior urethral valves. It's a valve that blocks urine from exiting the body," Tanner's father, Dane Donaldson, told WEWS-TV.
The family is managing Tanner's condition right now, but at some point, he will need a kidney transplant. In 2018, both of Tanner's parents were found to be perfect donor matches to give a kidney to their son.
The family wanted to put off having the surgery as long as possible since transplanted kidneys from a live donor only last an average of 20 years.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Now, the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital is refusing to perform the operation because the father is unvaccinated. The Donaldsons received a letter from the hospital in November notifying them that all donors and organ recipients must be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to get a transplant surgery.
Donaldson doesn't want to get the COVID-19 vaccine because of religious reasons, and because he is concerned with side effects.
"It was a little bit thrown down our throat. I mean, it was everywhere we turned," Donaldson said of the COVID-19 vaccine. "I couldn't shop at a grocery store without hearing it over the loudspeaker. So the more it became the more just studying it, what's involved in it, is there informed consent? Do I get to see the ingredient list?"
Plus, Donaldson was already infected with COVID, and so he believes he has immunity from his prior infection.
Donaldson believes that the hospital is being hypocritical since the hospital will do transplants of organs from a deceased person who isn't vaccinated.
Donaldson told the Epoch Times, "I asked them in that car accident victim, would you vaccinate him on the way to the hospital to rip his kidney out, and they said, 'No.'"
"A live donor is the best donor for kidneys, but they’ll take a kidney from a deceased person not vaccinated, it makes no sense," Donaldson explained.
Donaldson said he is willing to sign a waiver freeing the hospital of any liability should he or Tanner get infected with COVID-19, but the hospital won't budge on its vaccine mandate.
The father hopes that the Cleveland Clinic will change its policy or give him an exception.
"I don't know what we do today. You know, I gotta think somewhere out there, that cooler heads would prevail and we could, you know, I'd love it still to be at the Clinic and us come around and have some type of dialogue and say, ‘Okay, you know, let's look at your case,'" Donaldson stated. "We're trying to put plan B in place. The number one thing I can do is keep him as healthy as possible and I can remain and keep my health the best I can. But it's stressful. There's no doubt about it. You know, it just is."
Tanner, who was born at the Cleveland Clinic and has received treatment there for all nine years of his life, will likely need to go to another hospital to receive the procedure.
The Cleveland Clinic informed WEWS-TV that they can't comment on individual cases, but issued a statement:
In 2021, Cleveland Clinic developed COVID-19 safety protocols for transplantation and living donation to minimize the risks of possible COVID-19 exposure during the pandemic.
At this time, Cleveland Clinic's safety protocols for solid organ transplantation require COVID-19 vaccination to be an active transplant candidate or living donor. Vaccination is particularly important in these patients for their safety.
Living donation for organ transplantation has been a life-saving treatment, but it is not without risks to the donor. For the living donor, reducing the risk of a COVID-19 infection around the time of their surgery and recovery is crucial. Individuals who are actively infected with COVID-19 have a much higher rate of complications during and after surgery, even if the infection is asymptomatic. We continually strive to minimize risk to our living donors, and vaccination is an important component to ensure the safest approach and optimal outcomes for donors.
For the transplant candidate, in addition to a major operation, medications taken after an organ transplant weaken a person’s immune response. Serious complications of COVID-19 are most likely to develop in those individuals who have weakened immune systems, as their body has a reduced ability to fight and recover from infections. The FDA-authorized vaccines have been determined to be safe and effective and are the best way to prevent severe illness and death from COVID-19, especially when administered prior to transplantation.
The health and safety of our patients is our top priority. As the pandemic evolves, we will continue to evaluate our safety protocols.
The Cleveland Clinic has entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), pledging not to perform transgender procedures on minors. The agreements, made in coordination between the DOJ and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, also include a landmark commitment of $2 million to provide care for detransitioners. This settlement is part of the […]
Patients and their families should reject programs that undermine individualized medicine in favor of racially balanced outcomes.
The complaint, which alleges the Cleveland Clinic excludes white patients in favor of minorities, may trigger a federal investigation.
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