NHS puberty blocker trial is not ethical, US review says

[IDareSay]

“Likening tests of such harms to a trial of the dangers of jumping out of a plane without a parachute, they write: “The likelihood of infertility when puberty blockers are provided at the early stage of puberty and followed by cross-sex hormones does not have to be demonstrated in a clinical trial. This is because the mechanism is well understood and conducting a trial would amount to an unethical ‘parachute test’.”

www.thetimes.com/article/800fc8c9-e7f0-438c-85d4-994a41d7b40f?shareToken=81a030aa2be0295070bc6a3185833d96

"the US review argues that such a trial would “may conflict with well-established ethical standards for human subjects research”. They cite recommendations from the World Medical Association that doctors must understand risks properly before beginning a trial, as well as the postwar Nuremberg Code, drawn up in response to Nazi medical experiments, which stipulates that trials should be designed so that “the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment”."

Reference to Nazis entirely justified for once.

The wins keep on coming. This is great news. The damage to children has been immense.

I entirely agree with the comparisons with the Nazis. Trying to reshape the biological sex of a child is no different to trying to create conjoined twins (which the Nazis attempted - with predictably cruel and fatal consequences). The negative consequences of puberty blockade are known to a certain extent. Further experiments on animals might be justified, but not on human children.

God it really feels like the grown ups are back reading that.

There was a debate on the puberty blocker trial in Westminster Hall yesterday. It is as always available on parliament.tv and here is the Hansard record.
Rebecca Paul instigated the debate and has been outstanding on 'gender' issues since being elected to parliament.

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-04-30/debates/BDD8D9D9-05C9-44CB-A778-817BFFE10D77/GenderIncongruencePubertySuppressingHormones

People pick strange bedfellows if they have a united cause. Why are the U.S reviewing an NHS trial anyway? It seems a bit sinister.

Trump and grown up are not normally considered as synonymous.

I am not sure their attitude to vaccination is quite so ‘grown up’.

There was a TRA thread here where someone tried to use that parachute analogy to push their agenda. Interesting to see the tables turned.

I struggle to see how a US review has any bearing on an nhs trial...

I take this to be the review was conducted in the us for us purposes and in passing, analyses the cass review and its recommendations?

There's already been a trial - it's just the Tavistock, and Gender GP and the like - never kept records.

What @OminousFlute said

'gender medicine' is international. The Dutch Protocol was developed in Holland to try to address the fact that the mental health of men undergoing gender reassignment surgery as adults didn't improve. They thought it was because they didn't 'pass' as women so, instead of saying 'tough' you can't change sex the medics thought 'what if we can stop males going through puberty because they'll be more like females then.' It's truly astonishing that this very small and frankly deeply misguided study has had such a stranglehold on gender medicine since. This US report is only saying what many doctors and whistleblowers have been saying. There is little to no evidence of benefits and huge evidence of harm. It is perfectly normal to comment on studies taking place in other countries in this context.

Why the f did this take so long. The bit about comparing it to trialling jumping out of an aeroplane without a parachute: YES!

To clarify I meant the authors of the report are the grown ups not the Trump administration.

Thank you, what she said was so well put and also showed extensive knowledge.

It is interesting to see some others obviously still determined to believe very young people should be ‘transed’.

@dubaichocolate ,

Do you mean the anonymous authors of the report issued by the HHS run by JFK Junior, the vaccine sceptic?

I actually agree with the majority on this forum re puberty blockers, but it is really important to support your argument with unbiased non anonymous peer reviewed research, not biased yet-to-be-peer-reviewed research.

We also don’t need Trump’s U.S to be trying to dictate best practice to our institutions.

This is HUGE news. It cuts the legs off the gender butchery industry because in the US it's all funded by private health insurance. If the "treatment" is discredited then it won't be funded.

This is a massive step forward for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

I doubt RFK Jr had anything to do with this as it ostensibly seems quite sensible, although I haven’t read the report just the article. To be fair I didn’t say the NHS had to listen to it.

Animals don't have gender feelz. Why should they suffer?

Excellent point @RhymesWithOrange - if this report means that castrating children is no longer funded by insurance in the US that will be a massive step forward.

My clueless/woke sister in America has seen it in the Washington Post and heard it on NPR. It’s been reported with some scepticism by the left leaning press there but really, it’s indefensible!