The provisional ban on doctors giving puberty blockers to people under the age of 18 has been extended after Labour’s Wes Streeting received evidence of their “unacceptable safety risk.”
As their non-clinical name suggests, this group of medications was being supplied to arrest the developmental effects of adolescence, putting it at the centre of controversies over ‘gender transitioning’ in Britain.
Under Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration, the prescribing of such drugs to children was temporarily banned, although some under-18s were still permitted to take them as part of a clinical trial, and the door was left open for a broader U-turn.
Labour’s ban appears more permanent. But it should be noted that Streeting, the health secretary, contextualised the move in terms of the “current prescribing and care pathway”—so this remains an issue its critics should watch closely.
Children will also still be able to access puberty blockers as part of “a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year, to establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.”
Streeting has received a fair amount of praise despite these caveats, including from Helen Joyce, the author of a book on trans ideology, who said:
I’m dead impressed with Wes Streeting. He’s not only stood firm on the temporary ban on puberty blockers he inherited from the previous government, but carefully closed loopholes and now made it indefinite. This despite a sustained campaign of lies and emotional blackmail.
Whistleblower Amy Gallagher, who is suing the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, for discrimination and victimisation, added that “it took 20 years of whistleblowing, bullying, and damage to young people’s bodies to get here.”
Puberty Blockers should never have been prescribed in the first place. So glad this nightmare is over in the UK.
Streeting’s ban was based on a report by the Commission on Human Medicines, which found there is “currently [our emphasis] an unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children.”
Professor Steve Cunningham, the commission’s vice-chair, added that “the indefinite ban is made in the context of a significant waiting list for gender specialist services in the UK,” indicating that the drugs could again be made more widely available if current delays are dealt with.
