Anti-Trans Alaskan State Medical Board Doctor Charged With CSAM, Home Goes Up In Flames

Last week Dr. Ryan McDonough was arrested on ten counts of possession of child sexual abuse material. Over the weekend, his family home went up in flames.

Dr. Ryan McDonough of Alaska Heart and Vascular Institute // Michael Dinneen 2019

After unanimously voting in favor of a policy that would have effectively banned the provision of gender-affirming care to trans minors, the Alaska Medical Board’s anti-trans crusade stalled. Board vacancies and a series of mysterious absences from one of its members resulted in a prolonged break of quorum.

Now, we might know one reason why.

Last week, board member Dr. Ryan McDonough, a 46-year-old cardiologist based in Wasilla, was arrested on ten counts of possession of child pornography. Law enforcement reportedly found numerous videos on McDonough’s devices and accounts that depicted sexual abuse of children, including infants.

Then, over the weekend, just one day after McDonough was released on bail, his family home went up in flames. Charred human remains were found in the rubble, but the police have yet to conclusively identify the body or the cause of the fire. McDonough is still classified as “unaccounted for,” the local ABC affiliate reports. The home’s other occupants made it out of the blaze safely.

McDonough was appointed by Alaska’s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy in August 2025. He attended just two board meetings—in August and September—where one of his few actions was voting to advance anti-trans medical policies, which would have given the board broad discretionary powers to discipline medical providers for rendering gender-affirming care to minors. This could include fines and loss of licensure, but the rule was otherwise vague. It did not restrict the use of any such treatments for cisgender children.

The following two months, McDonough was absent from proceedings. This, in conjunction with unfilled seats, left the board’s initiatives stranded indefinitely.

McDonough’s name was removed from the board roster last month, Anchorage Daily News reports. A gubernatorial spokesperson told the outlet that McDonough had resigned, but that he did not provide a reason.

The spokesperson said the Dunleavy Administration only found out about the charges against McDonough this past Friday, and that they were “never aware of any criminal investigation against him” at the time of his appointment.

Due to the stagnation, the anti-trans policy never advanced to the public comment portion, and furthermore never went into effect. But it still could; Governor Dunleavy retains the power to appoint new board members. And the board, under the direction of podiatrist Dr. Matt Heilala, has taken an activist stance against evidence-based care for trans youth, going as far as urging the state legislature to take on the cause.

When lawmakers refused, the board stepped in to try to limit Alaskans’ health care, sparking widespread backlash from physicians, clinicians, trans people, and parents of transgender kids, who asserted that the board was overstepping.

“What I see is a very small number of political appointees who happen to be physicians, going against the consensus of the professions they’re supposed to represent and regulate,” said Dr. Kevin Tarlow, a psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, in an August interview with Erin in the Morning.

According to Identity Inc., an Alaska organization serving trans youth, fewer than 100 children in the entire state receive the kind of care the board has been targeting.