A group of 21 international clinicians and researchers have made startling claims in a letter published by The Wall Street Journal, stating that the prescription of hormone therapy and surgeries for gender-diverse youth is not supported by rigorous evidence and carries significant risks.
The group asserts that “Every systematic review of evidence to date, including one published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, has found the evidence for mental-health benefits of hormonal interventions for minors to be of low or very low certainty.”
They juxtapose this with the fact that the risks of such interventions “are significant and include sterility, lifelong dependence on medication and the anguish of regret.”
Furthermore, the group bluntly contradicts the claim by Stephen Hammes, president of the Endocrine Society, that gender transition reduces suicides.
They point out that Dr. Hammes’s claim that gender transition reduces suicides “is contradicted by every systematic review, including the review published by the Endocrine Society, which states, ‘We could not draw any conclusions about death by suicide.'”
“There is no reliable evidence to suggest that hormonal transition is an effective suicide-prevention measure,” the doctors emphasize.
Addressing the controversial politicization of transgender healthcare in the U.S., the signatories lament, “The politicization of transgender healthcare in the U.S. is unfortunate. The way to combat it is for medical societies to align their recommendations with the best available evidence—rather than exaggerating the benefits and minimizing the risks.”
The letter reveals that “more and more European countries and international professional organizations now recommend psychotherapy rather than hormones and surgeries as the first line of treatment for gender-dysphoric youth,” signaling a significant shift in the global approach to gender transition.
Offering a perspective from the United States, Clin. Prof. Stephen B. Levine, M.D., of Case Western Reserve University, and Clin. Prof. William Malone, M.D., of Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, are among the list of the signatories.
Reacting to the letter, Jesus L. Penabad, M.D., a physician from Tarpon Springs, Fla., reinforced the views put forth, saying, “Endocrinologists aren’t psychiatrists. We aren’t the ones who can identify gender-dysphoric individuals. The point isn’t to open the floodgates and offer an often-irreversible treatment to all people who may have issues with their sexuality, but to determine who would truly benefit from it.”
