Sunday 16 July 2023

“Youth Gender Transition Is Pushed Without Evidence” | WSJ Letter

I’ve written a fair bit about LGBTQ+ issues. They’re so fraught and fought-over, at least the Anglosphere. They divide mainly, but not completely, on political lines, more “Gender Critical” on the Right, more “Gender Affirming” on the Left. J.K. Rowling is an example of one on the Left, but on the Gender Critical side. Me, myself, I, I’m on the GC side; which I like to think is the side of The Science.™️

The letter below, signed by 21 clinicians and researchers, appeared in todays Wall Street Journal and is self-explanatory. I copy it below with thanks to WSJ:

As experienced professionals involved in direct care for the rapidly growing numbers of gender-diverse youth, the evaluation of medical evidence or both, we were surprised by the Endocrine Society’s claims about the state of evidence for gender-affirming care for youth (Letters, July 5). Stephen Hammes, president of the Endocrine Society, writes, “More than 2,000 studies published since 1975 form a clear picture: Gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide.” This claim is not supported by the best available evidence. 

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. By contrast, the risks are significant and include sterility, lifelong dependence on medication and the anguish of regret. For this reason, 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.

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 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.

This letter is signed by 21 clinicians and researchers from nine countries.

FINLAND

Prof. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, M.D., Ph.D.

Tampere University

Laura Takala, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Psychiatrist, Alkupsykiatria Clinic

UNITED KINGDOM

Prof. Richard Byng, M.B.B.Ch., Ph.D.

University of Plymouth

Anna Hutchinson, D.Clin.Psych.

Clinical psychologist, The Integrated Psychology Clinic

Anastassis Spiliadis, Ph.D.(c)

Director, ICF Consultations

SWEDEN

Angela Sämfjord, M.D. 

Senior consultant, Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Sven Román, M.D.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

NORWAY

Anne Wæhre, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior consultant, Oslo University Hospital

BELGIUM

Em. Prof. Patrik Vankrunkelsven, M.D. Ph.D.

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Honorary senator

Sophie Dechêne, M.R.C.Psych.

Child and adolescent psychiatrist

Beryl Koener, M.D., Ph.D.

Child and adolescent psychiatrist

FRANCE

Prof. Celine Masson, Ph.D.

Picardy Jules Verne University

Psychologist, Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants 

Co-director, Observatory La Petite Sirène

Caroline Eliacheff, M.D. 

Child and adolescent psychiatrist 

Co-director, Observatory La Petite Sirène

Em. Prof. Maurice Berger, M.D. Ph.D.

Child psychiatrist

SWITZERLAND

Daniel Halpérin, M.D.

Pediatrician

SOUTH AFRICA

Prof. Reitze Rodseth, Ph.D.

University of Kwazulu-Natal

Janet Giddy, M.B.Ch.B., M.P.H.

Family physician and public-health expert

Allan Donkin, M.B.Ch.B.

Family physician

UNITED STATES 

Clin. Prof. Stephen B. Levine, M.D.

Case Western Reserve University

Clin. Prof. William Malone, M.D.

Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine

Director, Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine

Clin. Prof. Patrick K. Hunter, M.D. 

Florida State University

Pediatrician and bioethicist