3.13.24 – Lumen News
“National Health Service England Bans Puberty Blockers for Children: Insufficient Evidence to Support 'Safety or Clinical Effectiveness’”
By Dr. Susan Berry, Ph.D.
Excerpts from this article:
National Health Service (NHS) England announced Tuesday children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics.
“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty-suppressing hormones to make the treatment routinely available at this time,” the new NHS clinical guidelines say, according to The Times.
The government welcomed the “landmark decision.”
Health Minister Maria Caulfield said in a statement:
We have always been clear that children’s safety and wellbeing is paramount, so we welcome this landmark decision by the NHS. Ending the routine prescription of puberty blockers will help ensure that care is based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and is in the best interests of the child.
The NHS’ Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), which was operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, was ordered to shut down in July 2022 following a critical independent review. It had been run since 1989, reportedly without a lower age limit on referrals.
The Times report noted:
As far back as 2015, staff from the clinic, also known as the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), told a select committee hearing that its treatment protocols were safe, regulated and based on guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health [WPATH], “which are almost universally observed in Europe.”
“In fact, the guidelines of that US-based organisation were NOT based on medical evidence, and there was little evidence about what the off-label use of these drugs really did to the brains and bodies of young patients,” the report added.
As Lumen-News reported last week, leaked internal documents from WPATH revealed gender medical providers admitting that CHILDREN ARE DEVELOPMENTALLY UNABLE TO COMPREHEND the ramifications of the drug and surgical treatments recommended to them.
The documents, the report’s executive summary states, show that “the world-leading transgender healthcare group is neither scientific nor advocating for ethical medical care.”
BBC reported the child patient population at the Tavistock gender clinic had surged from 138 in 2010-2011 to over 5,000 in 2021, an increase that contributed to accusations it was “rushing teenagers into life-altering treatment on hormone-blocking drugs” and even inviting lawsuits by patients with claims of mistreatment.
An interim analysis, led by UK pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, recommended the Tavistock clinic be closed. Cass cited, in a July 2022 letter to NHS England, “critically important unanswered questions” regarding puberty blockers and “uncertainties about the long-term outcome of medical intervention.”
Cass observed that puberty blockers may have the effect of “temporarily or permanently” disrupting brain development in developing children, and added:
We cannot be sure about the impact of stopping these hormone surges on psychosexual and gender maturation. To date, there has been very limited research on the short, medium or longer-term impact of puberty blockers on neurocognitive development.
The pediatrician instead urged an approach to gender dysphoria treatment in children that emphasizes mental health services, including those for autism.
The Tavistock gender clinic is scheduled to close down at the end of March.
… Sex Matters praised NHS England for the decision.
“This is a momentous development in the course correction of NHS England’s approach to treating childhood gender distress,” said Executive Director Maya Forstater.
“The significance of NHS England’s statement that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty blockers cannot be overstated, given the success that activist lobby groups have had in portraying them as a harmless and reversible treatment.”
MORE INFORMATION
3.6.24 -- “Leaked Discussions Reveal Doctors’ Concerns About Treatments for Transgender Children” – by Sharon Kirkey – National Post -- https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/wpath-files-transgender-care-children