A high-profile clinical trial of drugs that can delay puberty in children questioning their gender can go ahead after the High Court rejected a legal challenge by campaigners.
The Pathways trial, run by researchers at King's College London (KCL), will start recruiting more than 220 children aged between 11 and 16 years old from 1 August.
The study was commissioned to assess the benefits or risks of puberty blockers, after a landmark review into gender services found the evidence for treating young people with the drugs was "remarkably weak".
Campaigners who brought the legal action had argued the safeguards in place were inadequate and raised concerns about the long-term physical and psychological effects on young people.
The judge, Mr Justice Chamberlain, refused the application for a judicial review saying that none of the claims made by the campaigners had a realistic chance of success.
He said that each patient involved in the trial will have been assessed over "many months" by specialist doctors who will have "formed the opinion that a child has a reasonable prospect of receiving a clinical benefit from the treatment".
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