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The UK government has announced a “ban on puberty blockers to be made indefinite on experts’ advice.” The prohibition specifically protects minors from being subjected to the treatments.
A Wednesday press release from the Department of Health and Social Care declared that the “sale and supply of puberty blockers via private prescriptions for the treatment of gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria to be banned indefinitely in UK for under 18s.”
The department noted the ban on the drugs that have been used to block the onset of puberty in children with gender confusion comes in response to the “targeted consultation and advice on patient safety from the independent Commission on Human Medicines and Cass Review.”
Several “emergency orders,” the last of which expires December 31, were made in response to the Cass Review, a systematic examination of studies and guidelines led by British pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass.
The study, which was published in April, focused on the use of puberty blockers and other medical procedures associated with so-called “gender-affirming care” being practiced on children supposedly suffering with gender dysphoria.
Cass and her team found the “gender-affirming care” model of medical intervention for young people to be based on “remarkably weak evidence.”
“The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress,” Cass wrote, adding plainly, “[N]o changes in gender dysphoria or body satisfaction were demonstrated” as a result of puberty blockers.
Likewise, the Cass Review team found no evidence to support the “transition or die” claim that hormone treatment prevents a high risk of suicide in minors with gender dysphoria.
The primary predictor of death in gender-dysphoric young people is “psychiatric morbidity,” the researchers concluded. “Medical gender reassignment does not have an impact on suicide risk.”
The UK government added it was working with the National Health Service (NHS) to “continue to improve children’s gender services to provide all-round holistic support.”
The move reflects the findings of the Cass Review, with its strong recommendations for “holistic assessment” of children and teens presenting with gender issues. The final report observed such assessments “should include screening for neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, and a mental health assessment.”
“Standard evidence based psychological and psychopharmacological treatment approaches should be used to support the management of the associated distress and cooccurring conditions,” the reviewers recommended. “This should include support for parents/carers and siblings as appropriate.”
In a statement included in the UK department’s press release, Cass said:
Puberty blockers are powerful drugs with unproven benefits and significant risks, and that is why I recommended that they should only be prescribed following a multi-disciplinary assessment and within a research protocol.
I support the government’s decision to continue restrictions on the dispensing of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria outside the NHS where these essential safeguards are not being provided.
James Esses, founder of Just Therapy, celebrated the news of the indefinite ban on puberty blockers in a post on X.
“This day will go down in history as the day that safeguarding of children came back into existence,” Esses wrote Wednesday.
Labour Party Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting also emphasized the need for “evidence-led” healthcare for children.
“The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people,” Streeting stated. “Dr Cass’ review also raised safety concerns around the lack of evidence for these medical treatments. We need to act with caution and care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people, and follow the expert advice.”
According to the BBC, Streeting told the House of Commons that the Commission’s review had found cases in which children had been prescribed puberty blockers after having completed only an online questionnaire and just one virtual meeting with a healthcare provider.
The health secretary also said any breach of the order would be considered a criminal offense.
The press release included an announcement that, regarding the ban on puberty blockers: “Legislation will be updated today to make the order indefinite and will be reviewed in 2027.”
