Feb 252026

TX AG’s Office Continues Aggressive Enforcement Against Healthcare Entities Operating in Texas

Jaime L.M. Jones and Kenneth G. Coffin
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In just the last week, the Texas Attorney General’s Office (“TX AG’s Office”) filed three actions against healthcare providers and entities, continuing an increasingly robust and aggressive enforcement regime that dates back to at least the beginning of 2025.

First, on February 18, 2026, the TX AG’s Office filed suit against Children’s Health System of Texas, one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the nation, and Dr. Jason Jarin, for allegedly performing and billing Texas Medicaid for “illegal” gender-affirming care in violation of the Texas Healthcare Fraud Prevention Act (“THFPA”), Texas’ (unique) False Claims Act analog.  In the Petition, the TX AG’s Office contends that Dr. Jarin and Children’s “engaged in healthcare fraud by billing for sex change services that are specifically barred by Texas Medicaid and CHIP and using false diagnosis codes to obscure the nature of the interventions.” In addition to seeking monetary recovery under the THFPA, the Petition also requests a temporary injunction against both Dr. Jarin and Children’s from continuing to allegedly perform procedures and submit claims related to gender affirming care.

Next, on February 19, 2026, the TX AG’s Office intervened in a qui tam suit brought under the THFPA against Sanofi-Aventis for allegedly providing kickbacks to providers in Texas. In its Petition in Intervention, the State alleges that Sanofi “devised two programs—the Free Nurse Program and the Support Services Program—to offer free patient support and reimbursement services as in-kind remuneration to induce” providers to “prescribe Sanofi drugs over alternatives.”  According to the Petition, the free nurse program supplied “the services of free nursing staff to Providers” to “lighten the Provider’s workload by managing key aspects of patient care.” The alleged reimbursement support services program served to “reduce[], and in some instances eliminate[], Providers’ administrative costs related to prescribing” Sanofi’s drugs. The Petition contends that these patient support programs “functioned as kickbacks that reduced providers’ costs for patient care and insurance navigation, creating financial incentives to drive Sanofi drug utilization in Texas Medicaid.”  This intervention comes on the heels of an original petition the TX AG’s Office jointly filed with private counsel against Eli Lilly in August 2025 for allegedly violating the THFPA by offering nursing and reimbursement support services to Texas providers.

Finally, on February 24, 2026, the TX AG’s Office filed a Petition and Application for Injunctive Relief against Aid Access GmbH, Aid Access B.V., Remy Coeytaux, and Rebecca Gomperts for allegedly shipping abortion-inducing drugs into Texas in violation of Texas law.  The Petition asserts claims under the Texas Human Life Protection Act, as well as under the Texas Occupations Code and Texas Health and Safety Code for the alleged practice of medicine without a license. This petition too comes on the heels of a suit the TX AG’s Office filed just last month (January 2026) against a Delaware-based nurse practitioner and her entities for allegedly shipping abortion-inducing drugs into the State in violation of Texas law.

Since the beginning of 2025, the TX AG’s Office has announced a slew of investigations, suits, and resolutions under the THFPA, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and other Texas laws against a range of healthcare entities operating in Texas.  In addition, the TX AG’s Office recently announced that it had arrested over 120 individuals and collected over $125 million through its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which focuses on criminal enforcement of State healthcare laws.

This post is as of the posting date stated above. Sidley Austin LLP assumes no duty to update this post or post about any subsequent developments having a bearing on this post.

Jaime L.M. Jones

Chicago

jaime.jones@sidley.com

Kenneth G. Coffin

Dallas

kenneth.coffin@sidley.com

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