No more puberty blockers for children from the NHS - reported in the Times!

[MrsOvertonsWindow]

This is massive - and long overdue

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/97ce2e81-2884-42f5-bb82-2a2778f2cc91?shareToken=9568e79f0683beea68ffe5e978b05a29

My understanding is that the clinical decisions around precocious puberty are a) better evidenced and b) the drugs are prescribed for far less time than for 'gender affirmation'. and c) there is more balanced consideration given to the side effects risk/benefit.

Also, do any children start puberty under the age of FIVE? They haven't even got rid of their milk teeth by then! I thought precocious puberty was 7ish?!!!

The BBC don't seem to have noticed this yet? Maybe there's a drag queen event somewhere they need to cover?

Big fat silence from the BBC so far ...

They're probably having coffee with the BBC right now, bit busy.

I thought this was already in place? That the nhs would only prescribe in clinical trials?
But that private GPs can still prescribe?

What's new here?

Great ruling! Woo hoo!

Wonder if there is now going to be a backlash from TRA? I am a little concerned about clinical trials as TRA will presumably insist the control groups are children experiencing gender dysphoria or rather than untreated children without dysphoria. Any trial will pretty much find children are being harmed and the only argument available to TRA is that untreated children with gender dysphoria are unduly affected.

The actual BBC.

I wonder if this includes children who are already taking them?

Don't hold your breath for a BBC report, if there is one, it'll be at the bottom of a page on a "BIG NEWS DAY" (and I don't mean a Photoshopped photo of Wills and Kate etc!!)

Anyway HURRAH x infinity

From the article Fewer than 100 young people are presently on puberty blockers. They will be able to continue their treatment and are being seen by specialist endocrine services at Leeds and University College London Hospital.

That’s what I was wondering. Looks like there’s still a study in the pipeline for Dec.

Perhaps they hadn’t actually stopped and now they’ll have to really really stop.

Re the BBC it's not even tucked away under their Health stories ie down a corridor, in an old filing cabinet, behind a door marked 'leopard' etc etc.

Ah thanks. I didn’t read carefully enough.

I'd link this to the new information about WPATH, the Cass report incoming, and Truss's bill re preventing any medic prescribing them.

This will be a mix of oh shit, arse covering, and moving towards actual protection of children.

third item on radio 2 news - about 30 seconds

@MalagaNights

I am sure someone will correct me but by mandating clinical trial participation you can quickly build up evidence of harm to children in a controlled study rather than children opting out the trials and therefore not allowing the evidence to accumulate. Also trial can be stopped if it is shown statistically that there is harm to a patient as the first criterion for any treatment to be accepted is that it does not harm.

Ah, on R4 now.

In June 2023, the BBC reported that children would no longer be given puberty blockers unless they were taking part in clinical trials. Is this different?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65860272

This is brilliant news.

Evan Davies talking about it now...

Hannah Barnes now on. Excellent.

Hannah Barnes being interviewed!

I’m reading Hannah Barnes’ book at the moment and, based on what I’ve read so far, this news from the NHS is an excellent development in this area of patient care.

Also, based on how Barnes describes GIDS getting a blockers research study past an ethics review board by arguing the study couldn’t possibly have a randomly assigned control group, I’m hoping any proposed research is much more ethical and science-based than what’s previously taken place.

I just saw this, what brilliant news! Finally blanket protection.

And now Dr David Bell formerly of the Tavistock.