Following the explosive allegations of wrongdoing by former employee-turned-whistleblower Jamie Reed, the Washington University Transgender Center (WUTC, or the Center) at St. Louis Children’s Hospital conducted an internal investigation of its practices. In a report it released late last month, WUTC claimed that it found no evidence of serious problems. Reed’s allegations, it concluded, were “unsubstantiated.”
WUTC’s report has four basic problems. First: in its eight-week investigation, the Center never bothered to interview Jamie Reed herself. One would think that hearing about allegations of misconduct from the individual making them is a key part of an internal review. WUTC’s lack of interest in what Reed has to say—whether, for instance, there is relevant information she did not include in her sworn affidavit or whether she has learned anything in the months since complaining to the attorney general—suggests a lack of good faith on WUTC’s part. This deficiency alone calls the report’s conclusions into question.
As Reed said through her lawyers, some of the report’s findings constitute a tacit acknowledgment of her allegations. For example, WUTC concedes that it did not require written informed consent from parents prior to initiating hormonal interventions for minors. Nor did it require that parents or legal guardians provide copies of custodial agreements.
Second, the WUTC report is evasive about the standards of care that guide its practice. It says that “...
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