“After thoroughly examining all the available evidence, they have concluded that prescribing puberty blockers to children for the purposes of gender dysphoria in the current prescribing environment represents, and I quote, ‘an unacceptable safety risk’.”
He said that “of particular concern to the commission was whether these children and their families were provided with enough time and information to give their full and informed consent”.
“Billboard Chris” campaigns in London against children being given puberty blockers when they want to change sex. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
It means there is now an indefinite ban restricting the sale or supply of puberty blockers for under-18s through a prescription issued either by a UK doctor or someone registered outside the UK.
While health is a devolved matter, the ban applies to England, Wales and Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland, which on Tuesday agreed to stay in line with the rest of the UK to prevent it becoming a “back door” to the mainland.
The ban will be reviewed in 2027, the AP reported.
NHS England said that it “closes a loophole that posed a risk to the safety of children and young people”.
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Cass, who published her report in April, described puberty blockers as “powerful drugs with unproven benefits and significant risks”.
“That is why I recommended that they should only be prescribed following a multi-disciplinary assessment and within a research protocol,” she said.
“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.”
Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at the charity Sex Matters, said: “This will be an emotional day for families whose children experienced the physical harms caused by puberty blockers and the campaigners subjected to abuse, discrimination and scorn for raising the alarm in the years before the Cass Review.
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“Wes Streeting has shown integrity and bravery in replacing a temporary ban with an indefinite order.
“It marks another step towards puberty blockers being relegated to a shameful chapter of history, in which parents and health professionals were emotionally blackmailed into harming children in the name of ‘progress’.”
She said that Streeting needed “to ensure that private gender clinics are kept under close scrutiny” and listen to concerns about the NHS trial.
Streeting said the decision was based on evidence and not “political pressure”.
He said NHS England was “working with potential partner organisations to explore establishing a much-needed follow-through service for 17 to 25-year-olds”, which was recommended by Cass.
“We do not yet know the risks of stopping pubertal hormones at this critical life stage. That is the basis upon which I am making decisions. I am treading cautiously in this area because the safety of children must come first,” he told MPs.
“There are some who have called on the government not to go ahead with the clinical trial recommended by Dr Cass. Others on the opposite side of this debate want the government to ignore the recommendations of the independent expert Commission on Human Medicines.
“We are taking a different approach. The decisions we take will always be based on the evidence and advice of clinicians, not politics or political pressure.”
The Telegraph, London
