Scotland takes ‘Pause’ on puberty blockers, hormone drugs for children

Following the publication of a scathing report into the dangers of gender transition procedures for children, Scotland is officially stopping the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone drugs to minors.

Scotland’s only gender clinic for minors, Glasgow-based Sandyford Sexual Health Service, announced on Thursday that it would no longer refer under-18s to pediatric endocrinology for puberty blockers or hormone medication.

Earlier this month, the UK government published The Cass Review, a long-awaited nearly 400-page report compiled by respected pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass on gender transition procedures for children. Cass worked on the report for four years.

The reality is that we don’t have good evidence about the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress, the report states. This is an area of ​​remarkably weak evidence.

Sandyford Sexual Health Service announced:

This service update follows NHS research [National Health Service] England and the publication of The Cass Review as we work with the Scottish Government to engage in research with NHS England that generates evidence of long-term impact and safety for therapies. While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred to the Youth Gender Service the psychological support they require while we review pathways in line with the findings.

The decision by Sandyford’s Sexual Health Service to stop prescribing puberty blockers and hormone drugs to children is in line with new guidelines from the Greater Glasgow and Clyde National Health Service.

On clinical advice, both NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian postponed starting new patients on these treatments until mid-March 2024 in response to the position taken by NHS England and pending the publication of The Cass Review , National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde said in a written statement. Following the publication of The Cass Review, and having also received support from the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, Sir Gregor Smith, the health boards formally discontinued the treatment.

Last month, NHS England formally stopped prescribing puberty blockers and hormone medicines to children, explaining: Puberty blockers are not available for children and young people with gender incongruence or gender dysphoria because there is insufficient evidence safety and clinical efficacy.

NHS England warned that hormone drugs cause some irreversible changes and can cause temporary or even permanent infertility. The agency further noted: There is some uncertainty about the risks of long-term cross-sex hormone treatment.

Instead of these prescriptions, NHS England explained that children diagnosed with gender dysphoria will be offered a range of psychological therapies, including family therapy, individual child psychotherapy, parenting support or counselling, and regular reviews to monitor the gender identity development.

NHS England explained its new guidance saying: Most treatments offered at this stage are psychological rather than medical. This is because, in many cases, gender variant behavior or feelings disappear as children reach puberty.

Bass’s groundbreaking report found that gender transition procedures for children are largely based on biased and even low-quality research.

Additionally, the report found that there is no evidence that gender transition procedures prevent or reduce the risk of suicide, despite common claims by many gender transition advocates; Prescribing puberty blockers and hormone medications to minors can be dangerous; most children diagnosed with gender dysphoria suffer from a series of often neglected psychological comorbidities; and the practice of gender transition procedures has been largely guided by toxic debate and discourse.

As evidenced by Scotland’s reversal on puberty blockers and hormone drugs, The Cass Review is already sparking what UK officials are calling a fundamental shift in the gender transition industry.

During the preparation of her report, Cass investigated the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock Clinic in London. His findings led the pediatrician to recommend that the government close the clinic immediately, nearly two years before his final report was due.

In particular, Cass was troubled by the tendency of Tavistock staff to place children as young as 10 on regimens of puberty blockers or hormone drugs with little or no psychological supervision, sometimes after as few as three sessions of advice Cass noted with alarm that about 96% of the children referred to Tavistock were prescribed puberty blockers.

We echo the views of Dr Hilary Cass that the toxicity around the public debate is affecting the lives of young people who seek care from our service and does no good to the teams who work hard to care for and support them , Dr Emelia Creighton, director of public health at The National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said in a written statement.

The findings informing the Cass review are important and we have reviewed the impact on our clinical pathways,” said Creighton. “The next step from here is to work with the Scottish Government and academic partners to generate evidence that we allow us to offer safe care to our patients.

NHS Lothians Chief Medical Officer Tracey Gillies said: The Cass review is important work on how the NHS can better support children and young people with gender dysphoria. Patient safety must always be our priority, and it is right that we stop this treatment to allow further research.

Meanwhile, U.S. health officials have continued to promote gender transition procedures, including puberty blockers and hormone medications for children. Last year, a report named the United States as an outlier in protecting children from harmful gender transition procedures after France, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom issued warnings against the prescription of puberty blockers and hormonal drugs in children.

A request filed under the Freedom of Information Act earlier this year resulted in the admission by Rachel Levine, assistant secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, that her claims that that gender transition procedures for children are necessary and save lives were based entirely on a two-page paper that cites a single study conducted by an LGBT activist organization.

Originally published by The Washington Stand