In a letter to Monica Bertagnoli, director of the National Institutes of Health, six Republican senators said they were “concerned about the transparency” of research funded by the NIH, the federal agency responsible for conducting and supporting medical research. ” he said.
They publicly voiced their concerns following October. New York Times coverage Long-awaited research into puberty-blocking drugs has been left unpublished due to concerns that the findings could be “weaponized” by opponents of transition-related care for minors.
The letter included Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), Ted Cruz (Texas), James Lankford (Oklahoma), and Mark Wayne. – Signed by Senator Mullin (Oklahoma) and Mike Lee (Utah).
The long-awaited study, led by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, medical director of the Trans Youth Health Development Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, was published in 2015 as part of a broader multi-million dollar effort to assess trans youth. started. Long-term outcomes of medical care for transgender children and adolescents.
Olson-Kennedy and colleagues were commissioned by the NIH to study the effects of puberty blockers, which prevent physical changes such as breast development and a deepening of the voice, on children in early adolescence who suffer from the pain of gender dysphoria and nonconformity. Given. between a person's gender identity and their sex at birth.
Nine years later, the data remains unpublished. In October, Olson-Kennedy told the New York Times that puberty blockers do not necessarily result in improved mental health, because the children recruited for the study were already in good shape at the start of the study. He said it was likely because he was getting good grades.
Olson-Kennedy said she was concerned that the conclusions would be skewed by those who oppose gender-affirming medicines such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transsexual youth, adding that the medical field is becoming increasingly polarized. He said the medical field is an intensely and increasingly politically charged field.
Starting in 2021, more than half of countries have significantly restricted or prohibited some aspects of transgender care for minors (and in some cases adults). This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a landmark challenge to a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for adolescents, drawing more than 1,000 demonstrators outside.
“We don't want our work to be weaponized,” Olson-Kennedy said in October. “You have to be right to the point, clear and concise, and that takes time.”
in thursday letterRepublican senators accused Olson-Kennedy of withholding the study results because they likely “do not support her political agenda.” They referred to an independent UK review known as the Cass Review, which found only “weak” evidence linking puberty blockers to improved mental health.
The findings of the Cass Review, which led the UK government to ban the use of puberty blockers in minors outside of clinical trials, are themselves controversial, and have been criticized by health experts and transgender young people. Doctors who treat patients have spent much of the past eight months debating the report since it was published. Is it accurate?
1 ratingThe Integrity Project at Yale Law School alleges that the Cass review “obscures important findings, misrepresents original data, and is rife with misuse of the scientific method.”
Other peer-reviewed studies in the United States have found that puberty blockers are associated with better mental health outcomes in transgender youth, including reduced depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.
The senators on Thursday asked Bertagnoli to produce an annual progress report on Olson-Kennedy's research, writing that doing so would “ensure transparency in medical research.”
With the exception of Cassidy, each of the senators who signed the letter to NIH has introduced or co-sponsored federal legislation that would ban gender-affirming care for minors.
Cassidy, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, remains skeptical of transition-related care and earlier this year started an investigation To medical institutions that “promote” the use of puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery on minors.
Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, say gender-affirming medical care for transgender adults and minors is necessary. medically necessary And it can save lives. They are rejecting state and federal efforts to limit care.
In Thursday's letter, Republicans acknowledged that the U.S. lacks federally funded research on trans health care that “could provide better information to doctors and parents,” but supported more research. It didn't come to that.
“To be clear, we oppose the use of tax dollars for gender reassignment interventions for minors. We recognize that this particular study is observational. “However, we remain concerned that minors lack the capacity to fully understand and provide consent to the lifelong consequences of the interventions studied in this project,” the senators wrote.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, has similarly opposed gender-affirming care for minors, and medical experts say it could lead to future states that federal funding for research could be threatened. Effect of treatment.
