Scotland Hits ‘Pause’ on Puberty Blockers, Hormone Drugs for Kids

Following publication of a damning report on the hazards of gender transition procedures for youngsters, Scotland formally is halting the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone medicine to minors.

Scotland’s sole gender clinic for minors, Glasgow-based Sandyford Sexual Health Service, announced Thursday that it now not would refer youngsters below 18 to pediatric endocrinology to be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone medicine.

Earlier this month, the U.Ok. authorities printed The Cass Review, a much-anticipated report of practically 400 pages compiled by an esteemed pediatrician, Dr. Hilary Cass, on gender transition procedures for youngsters. Cass labored on the report for 4 years.

“The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress,” the report declares. “This is an area of remarkably weak evidence.”

Sandyford Sexual Health Service introduced:.

This service replace follows analysis from NHS [National Health Service] England and the publication of The Cass Review whereas we work with the Scottish authorities to interact in analysis with NHS England that may generate proof of security and long-term affect for therapies. While this pause is in place, we are going to proceed to offer anybody who’s referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require whereas we overview the pathways according to the findings.

The resolution by Sandyford Sexual Health Service to “pause” prescriptions of puberty blockers and hormone medicine to youngsters is according to new guidance from National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

“On clinical advice, both NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian deferred starting new patients on these treatments in mid-March 2024 in response to the position taken by NHS England and while the publication of The Cass Review was awaited,” National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde mentioned in a written assertion. “Following the publication of The Cass Review and having also received the support of the chief medical officer for Scotland, Sir Gregor Smith, the health boards formally paused treatment.”

Last month, NHS England formally halted prescribing puberty blockers and hormone medicine to youngsters, explaining: “Puberty blockers … are not available to children and young people for gender incongruence or gender dysphoria because there is not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness.”

NHS England warned that hormone medicine “cause some irreversible changes” and “may cause temporary or even permanent infertility.” The company additional famous: “There is some uncertainty about the risks of long-term cross-sex hormone treatment.”

Instead of such prescriptions, NHS England defined that youngsters identified with gender dysphoria may have a spread of psychological therapies obtainable to them, together with household remedy, particular person youngster psychotherapy, parental support, or counseling, and “regular reviews to monitor gender identity development.”

NHS England defined its new steerage by saying: “Most treatments offered at this stage are psychological rather than medical. This is because in many cases gender variant behaviour or feelings disappear as children reach puberty.”

The groundbreaking report from Bass discovered that gender transition procedures for youngsters are largely based mostly on biased and even low-quality analysis.

Additionally, the report discovered that there’s “no evidence” that gender transition procedures forestall or cut back the danger of suicide, regardless of the widespread claims of many gender transition advocates; the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone medicine to minors could also be harmful; the vast majority of youngsters identified with gender dysphoria endure from a bunch of often-neglected psychological co-morbidities; and the observe of gender transition procedures has been largely guided by “toxic” debate and discourse.

As evidenced by Scotland’s change after all on puberty blockers and hormone medicine, The Cass Review is already bringing about what U.Ok. officers are calling a “fundamental change” within the gender transition trade.

In the course of compiling her report, Cass investigated the Gender Identity Development Service on the Tavistock clinic in London. Her findings led the pediatrician to advocate that the federal government shut down the clinic instantly, virtually two years earlier than her ultimate report was due.

In specific, Cass was disturbed by Tavistock employees’s pattern of inserting youngsters as younger as 10 on regimens of puberty blockers or hormone medicine with little or no psychological oversight, typically after as few as three counseling periods. Cass famous with alarm that about 96% of youngsters referred to Tavistock have been prescribed puberty blockers.

“We echo the views of Dr. Hilary Cass that toxicity around public debate is impacting the lives of young people seeking the care of our service and does not serve the teams working hard to care and support them,” Dr. Emelia Creighton, public well being director for National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde, mentioned in a written assertion.

“The findings informing the Cass Review are important, and we have reviewed the impact on our clinical pathways,” Creighton mentioned. “The next step from here is to work with the Scottish government and academic partners to generate evidence that enables us to deliver safe care for our patients.”

NHS Lothian’s govt medical director, Tracey Gillies, mentioned: “The Cass Review is a significant piece of work into how the NHS can better support children and young people who present with gender dysphoria. Patient safety must always be our priority, and it is right that we pause this treatment to allow more research to be carried out.”

Meanwhile, U.S. well being officers have continued selling gender transition procedures—together with puberty blockers and hormone medicine—for youngsters. Last yr, a report named the U.S. an “outlier” within the subject of defending youngsters from dangerous gender transition procedures after France, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the U.Ok. issued warnings towards prescribing youngsters puberty blockers and hormone medicine.

A request filed below the Freedom of Information Act earlier this yr resulted in an admission from Rachel Levine, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that his claims that gender transition procedures for youngsters are “lifesaving” and “necessary” have been based mostly solely on a two-page doc citing a single examine carried out by an LGBT activist group.

Originally printed by The Washington Stand