Economist article highlighting the risks of puberty blockers. Can the tide be turning?

[Blurberoo]

It makes shocking reading even if you are aware of the practice. Nothing more than child abuse for profit. Lives ruined. Article here: www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/02/20/little-is-known-about-the-effects-of-puberty-blockers

I can’t read the whole article as not a subscriber. But let’s hope this is the start of the tide turning.

Article also published here:
infoshri.com/viral-news/little-is-known-about-the-effects-of-puberty-blockers/
without paywall

Apologies, hopefully this will work, haven’t archived anything before! <a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210219222901/www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/02/20/little-is-known-about-the-effects-of-puberty-blockers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20210219222901/www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/02/20/little-is-known-about-the-effects-of-puberty-blockers

Wow. So much for " do no harm"

334bu

Yep. The article is titled "little is known about the effects of puberty blockers", but it should be "quite a lot is known, and little of it is good".

I dont need to read a long article to know that sterilising children is bad.
How this was ever allowed let alone lauded and defended I will never understand.
Anyone defending this is suspect.
Im so sorry for all the innocent children caught up in this.

It’s a huge scandal that must be brought into the light before more damage is done. Parents, prescribers and the evil people selling the drugs need to be held responsible. I saw this article on Instagram and was heartened to see a lot of comments supportive of it. Surely if this scandal becomes mainstream news there will be a public outcry which trumps being scared of being accused of transphobia.

How do they get a large clinical trial going? It appears that the resistance is because they know the results will not be good.

@highame

How do they get a large clinical trial going? It appears that the resistance is because they know the results will not be good.

I doubt they could get a proper trial past an ethics committee.

Am I being overly optimistic thinking that puberty blockers will never return to being an accepted NHS treatment for children with GD in the UK?

Even if the Keira Bell ruling were to be overturned, which I don't personally think it will be, NICE are reviewing the evidence on the efficacy of PB and articles like this confirm that the evidence doesn't, and never has, supported their use.

@Thingybob

Am I being overly optimistic thinking that puberty blockers will never return to being an accepted NHS treatment for children with GD in the UK?

Even if the Keira Bell ruling were to be overturned, which I don't personally think it will be, NICE are reviewing the evidence on the efficacy of PB and articles like this confirm that the evidence doesn't, and never has, supported their use.

Let’s hope. Unfortunately I think there is a bigger mountain to climb because of the amount of people utterly determined that children should have these drugs and will use any means to do it.

I need to double check the info but I’m sure I saw last night that a certain organisation with a vested interest was awarding a 10 yr old child total funding for hormone treatment through a grant scheme they have set up. The government are going to have to do something more to stop this.

Unfortunately the Keira Bell case doesn’t cover Scotland. The Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow is still pushing their use www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/landmark-ruling-puberty-blockers-ban-23213602?

‘NHS England updated its guidance to reflect the judgment, so “no one under the age of 16 can now be referred for puberty blockers unless a court rules it is in the child’s best interests”.

However the Sandyford clinic - part of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGCC) - said it will still use the drugs.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:“The English High Court ruling has no formal status in Scotland and it is not for the Scottish Government to comment on the court action.”’

I'm hopeful that that's it for puberty blockers on the NHS. I think historically it'll be seen alongside the likes of lobotomy, Thalidomide and Western 'medical' FGM (Wikipedia page on FGM in the USA - "From the 1880s to 1950s, excision was often performed to prevent and treat lesbianism, masturbation, depression, hysteria, and nymphomania.[27][28] These procedures continued well into the 1970s, and were covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance until 1977.").

Sandyford are dreadful. I’d written to them a while back to complain about their online booklet which had put of date info re puberty blockers after NHS England updated their website. It was quite funny- I first got an fobbing off email response where I was addressed as “Dear No”. When I went back to complain about that, they did listen and removed the booklet from their website- this was back at the beginning of June or July and they still haven’t replaced it.

So I was hopeful they would see sense and follow the Tavi, but they have just doubled down and are adamant their children/adolescents get sufficient counselling etc which misses the entire point that it doesn’t matter how much information is given to children.

I have a FOI outstanding to them asking for various bits of info (which I doubt they collect, but want that in writing) which is now well overdue and my chaser to them has gone ignored.

What is the situation with Crowdfunding sites, which I feel have been something of a gamechanger in all this? Are there any safeguards or medical checks and balances around the age of those raising funds from strangers for puberty blockers and surgery from private sources? And a lot of money is being made for the Crowdfunders, the drug companies and the surgeons. What is the regulation here?

Oh and they send parents to a support group, Transparentees which during non-COVID times meets on the Sandyford premises. Transparentees, on the back of David Bell’s interview on Channel 4 tweeted:

“ David Bell did not treat the children. He is a psychoanalyst of adults. Practically everything he said in this interview is untrue. You have given a platform to somebody who holds deeply anti trans views and emboldened bigots”

twitter.com/transparentsee2/status/1353069648904818689?s=21

I can’t see them shifting their position anytime soon. 😡

I'd forgotten about Scotland. Thanks for the information re Sandyford rogdmum

I have a FOI outstanding to them asking for various bits of info (which I doubt they collect, but want that in writing) which is now well overdue and my chaser to them has gone ignored.

You can take this to an internal review and then to the Scottish Information Commissioner if they still don't respond or if you're not happy with the response.

www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Askingforareview.aspx

There are time limits for doing this, so if it's more than 60 working days (12 weeks) since your original request you might have to start again.

You should ask for a review no later than 40 working days after the date you receive one of the above responses from the authority. If the authority did not respond at all, you have 40 working days after the end of the 20 working day period for responding to your request.