Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a third doctor for allegedly prescribing hormone treatment to minors in violation of the state’s ban on gender-affirming care.
Paxton accuses Dr. M. Brett Cooper, an associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, of prescribing various levels of testosterone cypionate to 15 patients between the ages of 14 and 17. Most patients listed in the lawsuit were between 16 and 17 years old.
In the 34-page lawsuit filed in Collin County, Paxton calls Cooper a “scofflaw” and “radical gender activist” — a reprisal of similar labels he used in his first two lawsuits against Dr. May Lau of UT Southwestern and Dr. Hector Granados of El Paso.
Paxton has said the state “is cracking down” on doctors who provide treatment to children experiencing gender dysphoria despite the state’s ban, which took effect Sept. 1, 2023.
Paxton said Cooper has prescribed hormone treatment to patients as recently as Sept. 25, and that patients filled prescriptions as recently as Oct. 8.
“Despite the enactment of the law, Cooper continues to prescribe and distribute cross-sex hormones to his minor patients for the purposes of transitioning their biological sex or affirming their belief that their gender identity or sex is consistent with their biological sex,” he wrote in the suit.
Paxton also accuses Cooper of misrepresenting diagnoses and billing codes through diagnoses such as “precocious puberty” or “endocrine disorder” in order to treat patients for gender dysphoria.
KERA News reached out to UT Southwestern and Children’s Health for comment and will update the story with any responses.
Emails to both Cooper and Lau received out-of-office messages within a day of their respective lawsuits.
This story will be updated.
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