Ellis Jablonski recounts Mount Sinai privacy scare and provider bias
Ellis Jablonski says Mount Sinai called about handing over trans patient records to the federal administration, which he called a privacy violation. He also describes misgendering, deadnaming, and an unsolicited procedure pitch at an orthodontist; supports Intro 949, Res 208, and Res 547.
Thank you, Chair Farias, Chair Caban, Chair Narcisse, and members of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity, the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use, and the Committee on Hospitals for holding this hearing and providing us with the opportunity to testify.
My name is Ellis Rejablonski.
I use pronouns he, him.
I'm a program participant at the New York Transgender Advocacy Group.
Receiving medical care as a trans person does not come with the same guarantee of safety and respect as with our cisgender counterparts.
Earlier this year, I was getting ready to leave the house when I received a phone call from my former provider, Mount Sinai, who I hadn't been to since 2022,
that they were under oath to the administration to hand over all the personal information of their trans patients who received gender-affirming care there as minors.
I was furious not only that they could do this because it was a blatant HIPAA and privacy violation, but that the hospital gave in so easily to pressure.
The woman on the phone that I was speaking to insisted that the hospital's hands were tied.
Ultimately, the information release was deemed unlawful by federal court, but no patient should ever have to have that kind of fear that their doctor could do something like that to them.
This is a unique risk that we as trans patients face when our identity is weaponized into a political talking piece.
In other adverse medical experiences, I've been misgendered and deadnamed even when the dermatologist's office has a preferred name and pronoun box on the intake paperwork.
I went to the orthodontist for a...
Retainer fitting when the doctor unsolicited tried to
sell me a phony gender-affirming procedure, cosmetic tooth procedure, when I've just come in for a checkup.
Health visits can be stressful enough as is.
Having a piece of legislation like Intro 949 will allow people to find health care providers who respect trans patients and prioritize protecting our health and our dignity.
We thank the Committee on Women and Gender Equity, the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use, and the Committee on Hospitals for their continued support and leadership in protecting TGNC and BI New Yorkers.
We make the following recommendations to the City Council and urge support for the following to prioritize constitutional and legal protections for TGNC and BI folks.
We support Intro 0949, we support Resolution 0208, and we support Resolution 0547.
We thank the Committee on Women and Gender Equity and the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use for its continued support and leadership in protecting TGNC and BI New Yorkers.
Thank you for allowing us to testify, and we look forward to working with you.
Thank you.
Oh, yeah, you can pull it over to your horse, which it's up to you.
There you go.