Two North Texas doctors accused of violating the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors cannot practice medicine on patients as the state's lawsuit against them continues, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced this week.
Drs. May Lau and M. Brett Cooper entered agreements last month in their respective cases. The two UT Southwestern Medical Center employees are limited to practicing medicine in academic, administrative and research settings until the agreement is superseded by another court order or terminated by both parties.
A Kaufman County judge also signed an agreed temporary injunction that prevents El Paso endocrinologist Dr. Hector Granados from providing gender-affirming care to minors.
Paxton sued the three doctors last year, alleging they continued to prescribe hormones to teens after Texas' ban went into effect in 2023.
A Tuesday news release from the Attorney General’s office said Paxton “has now prevented the doctors from continuing to violate Texas law and harm children while the cases are ongoing.”
Granados told El Paso Matters he stopped providing gender-affirming care after the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 14.
Mark Bracken, Granados' attorney, said in an email that Granados has followed state law.
"We have been cooperating with the AG's office to show them that Dr. Granados followed the law," Bracken wrote. "We entered into an agreed temporary injunction and an agreed protective order because Dr. Granados has nothing to hide and wants to show the AG's Office that he followed the law."
Granados operates the only pediatric endocrinology clinic in the region and El Paso is an underserved medical community, he added.
"(Granados) was careful to follow the law to ensure that he could continue to treat his patients, who need his expertise to manage their chronic and acute endocrine conditions, including juvenile or type 1 diabetes."
Attorneys for Cooper and Lau did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Granados’ case will go to trial Oct. 28, according to Kaufman County records. Hearings to dismiss or move the case are scheduled for Feb. 20.
Lau’s transfer hearing, as well as a motion to seal records, will go before a Collin County district court judge Feb. 26. A dismissal hearing is scheduled for Feb. 28.
Cooper has also filed a motion to dismiss. His transfer hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26.
This story was updated at 11:28 a.m. CST Feb. 6, 2025, to include comments from Mark Bracken, who represents Dr. Hector Granados.
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