England’s NHS Won’t Give Puberty Blockers to Gender Dysphoric Children
England’s National Health Service said that it will only prescribe puberty blockers to children who are participants in a clinical research study on the drugs’ impact on development.
Following the release of an interim report on puberty blockers, England’s health service determined that there were “gaps in evidence” to support prescribing the drugs to minors suffering from gender dysphoria. According to the New York Post, the NHS said that the ban would be an “interim policy,” that would have to undergo additional reviews based on ongoing research.
Dr. Cass, who authored the report, first opened the conversation surrounding puberty-blocking drugs by stating the known, short-term side effects, stating that the long-term effects are not yet known and need to be studied further.
“In the short-term, puberty blockers may have a range of side effects such as headaches, hot flushes, weight gain, tiredness, low mood and anxiety, all of which may make day-to-day functioning more difficult for a child or young person who is already experiencing distress. Short-term reduction in bone density is a well-recognized side effect, but data is weak and inconclusive regarding the long-term musculoskeletal impact.”
Dr. Cass Interim Report on Puberty Blockers, Gender Dysphoria treatment for children
Her report also states that “Data from both the Netherlands and the study conducted by GIDS demonstrated that almost all children and young people who are put on puberty blockers go on to sex hormone treatment (96.5% and 98%) respectively).”
“The reasons for this need to be better understood,” she added. While many doctors want to and should compile data and evidence-based explanations for this phenomenon, many conservatives have been sounding the alarm on this trend for years. Once a child is placed on the conveyer belt of treatment options, they rarely get off. The answer, however, is simple, a child’s mind is malleable and they tend to believe what they are told by parents and authority figures.
Another study conducted in the Netherlands concluded that a teenage male died after receiving every gender-affirming treatment offered to him from an early age. The cause of his untimely death was said to be post-operative complications that arose from his extended use of puberty blockers throughout adolescence.
“The report states that the death was caused by an E-Coli strain which likely originated from the patient’s intestines, not the hospital, which confirms the researchers’ assumption that years of puberty-blocking treatments ultimately caused the boy’s death.”
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Last year, the NHS released a statement suggesting that transgender-identifying adolescents may be undergoing a “transient” phase and directly advocated for delayed medical transition for minors. Despite this, several clinics around Europe and the United States continue to provide not only puberty-blocking agents, but also hormone treatments, and surgical procedures to minors suffering from gender dysphoria. There is a lack of evidence to suggest that medical treatments have any positive long-term effect on the mental health of the individual receiving these interventions.
Under the new policy, minors are not prevented from receiving the blockers elsewhere, however, the NHS said that prescriptions would be “strongly discouraged.”
