The American Medical Association is being taken to task for continuing to support puberty blockers for kids — despite recently coming out against trans surgeries for children.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall wrote a letter to the AMA this week on behalf of a coalition of 20 AGs lauding the association for aligning with the American Society of Pediatric Surgeons that sex-change surgery should be reserved for adults only.
However the cohort argued the association’s position on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy is inconsistent given the similarly paucity of good research on outcomes for children who report having gender dysphoria.
The group cited systematic reviews by the Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Hilary Cass. Getty Images“The quality of evidence is the same as it is for surgeries: low and very-low quality,” the letter said.
The letter cited reviews conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services and UK pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, which both found a lack of evidence that such treatments were safe or effective for children.
“So if you agree that there is insufficient evidence to support using surgical interventions to treat gender dysphoria in minors — as your recent statement indicates — we do not understand how you can find that there is sufficient evidence to support using hormonal interventions to treat gender dysphoria in minors,” the letter continued.
“These interventions have not been shown to be any safer for children that surgeries are, and in fact may be all the more dangerous precisely because they are viewed as not as serious.”
The AGs warned that “hormones can leave a child sterilized just as surely as surgery can.”
The letter also included a list of questions to the AMA about the safety and efficacy of the treatments, including whether it supports the positions of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, all of which support hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors.
“We thus find it concerning that the AMA continues to support the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria in minors,” the letter states. Georgii – stock.adobe.com
The letter said the AMA’s current position is inconsistent, and the group could face investigation for violating consumer protection laws. Nadzeya – stock.adobe.com“The American Medical Association has finally admitted what many have warned for years: its recommendations for surgeries on children were not grounded in solid evidence, despite telling doctors and families otherwise,” Attorney General Marshall said in a press release.
“Yet the same weak science underpins puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. You cannot dismiss one intervention as unsupported while continuing to push the rest. When children’s lives and futures are at stake, anything less than full scientific honesty is reckless. The AMA must follow the science completely, not selectively.”
The AMA was asked to respond to the inquiry by March 25.
