Comment on Puberty blockers to be banned indefinitely for under-18s across UK

RobotToaster@mander.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• floofloof@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Let’s hope that allows many kids access to the care they need. If there’s a real concern about the safety of puberty blockers, then clinical trials are exactly what’s needed to find out. I’m not entirely convinced this is really due to medical concern though. It smells like Labour trying to out-bigot the Conservatives, just to prove they’re not lefties any more.

  source

  • RobotToaster@mander.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    My understanding is by medical standards, the evidence is pretty low quality, which is why GnRH agonists aren’t approved by the EMA, MHRA, FDA, or NICE for gender dysphoria.

    It highlights a wider issue in medicine though, the obsession with randomised controlled trials, which is basically the only evidence the GRADE method considers “high quality”. We are seeing exactly the same problem with MDMA assisted therapy, any therapy where blinding is difficult is dismissed by the medical establishment. NICE dismissed (es)ketamine for depression for the same reason. Add to that the fact that GnRH agonists are off patent, so there’s no incentive for industry to fund studies.

    source