Puberty blockers - "lack of good quality evidence" but have some anyway
It’s surprising that we even got this admission given who is doing the reviewing of the evidence. We need to keep pushing – for the sake of our children.
[Please note - due to a number of video clips, it’s worth watching the YouTube version of this Substack]
The Ministry of Health has just published its review of puberty blockers.
Puberty blockers are used as part of the process to direct young people who are gender confused towards starting the process of trying to change their sex. Trying.
Here’s the key thing to understand. They don’t pause. They predict. The overwhelming number of children on puberty blockers will go on to wrong sex hormones.
Puberty blockers are used to delay the changes of puberty and when taken regularly, they stop the body from making sex hormones. That includes testosterone for boys and estrogen for girls. So for boys, they slow the growth of facial and body hair, prevent voice deepening, and limit the growth of the penis, scrotum and testicles. For girls this treatment limits or stops breast development and stops menstruation.
Sounds problematic, doesn’t it. Whenever you interfere with the natural process, and especially puberty, there’s always going to be issues.
The Ministry of Health has published their review – and it admits there is a lack of good quality evidence for the effectiveness or safety of puberty blocking treatment.
So have they immediately halted the prescribing of puberty blockers – as you would expect them to? No. But when you know who was on the review panel, it won’t surprise you.
NZ has been prescribing puberty blockers – and at a rate 10x higher per head of population than the UK where puberty blockers have just been stopped because of what’s known as the 4-year long CASS review which concluded that:
Puberty blockers should no longer be prescribed to children except in the context of research due to these powerful drugs’ effects on brain development and bone health
Cross-sex hormones — estrogen and testosterone — should be prescribed to trans-identifying 16 and 17-year-olds only with an “extremely cautious” approach, and there should be a “clear clinical rationale” for not waiting until the teen is 18
The CASS report also destroyed the suicide trope – better a live son than a dead daughter – which is used to manipulate parents
· Young people facing gender-related distress had no significantly different levels of suicide risk to other young people with similar levels of complex presentations.
· No evidence that gender-affirming treatment reduces suicide risk.
Remember all these facts as we review what the Ministry of Health said yesterday .
Now the Ministry of Health was in the middle of reviewing the evidence and as part of the process, they were to update the guidelines.
The report was supposed to come out last December, then it was March or April of this year. Then August.
But the CASS report in April mucked all that up, didn’t it. The Ministry knew it was coming.
I suspect the Ministry were going to give the green light to continue abusing our children with the message that puberty blockers were safe, reversible, and all good.
But they’ve had to change it from green… to orange.
Here’s the problem.
Te Whatu Ora / Health NZ contracted a group to write up the guidelines. And they contracted none other than PATHA to write the original guidelines. PATHA (professional association of transgender health Aotearoa) is a group of transactivists. They supported so-called conversion therapy bans, but they want to practice conversion therapy on kids. Ironic, isn’t it. Virtually all their leadership team and advisory board are transgender and are closely affiliated with the massively discredited WPATH – the world body.
ACTIVIST DOCTORS
But who’s reviewing the evidence?
Speak Up For Women did an OIA to the Ministry of Health to find out. Here’s the response
The Evidence Brief examining the safety and long-term impacts of Puberty Blockers will be released shortly on the Ministry of Health’s website, along with our position statement... The Evidence Brief was peer reviewed by Professor Paul Hofman of the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, and Dame Sue Bagshaw from Christchurch.
Now I hadn’t heard of Prof Paul Hofman before this – but a quick bit of research confirmed my concerns.
He helped set up the guidelines 15 years ago.
In 2013 he said this: “Hofman said he was a ''cautious supporter'' of intervention through puberty blockers, once a youth had been diagnosed by one or more psychiatrists and counselling support. ''This is a vulnerable group of children and adolescents. It's a psychiatric condition, not medical.''
OK well if it’s psychiatric, why would you use puberty blockers?? That’s like using weight loss pills for anorexia.
After the CASS report came out in early April, Professor Hofman told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that the blockers reduce self-harm and suicidal ideation in some patients, but there's hasn't been any strong follow up studies looking at quality of life and the impacts, nor any issues around safety.
But a major red flag: He says puberty blockers are “All reversible”. And safety is a bit of a beat up.
Have a listen. [By the way, the mention of precocious puberty is a completely different issue relating to when puberty begins too early for the child who's going through it.] Puberty blockers blocks the natural process at the right time.
VIDEO
He expressed some concerns. Although using the suicide trope is a major concern.
But here’s the key thing. When the briefing paper was released yesterday, the media all rushed to two people. One was Professor Hofman and the other was Dr Massimo Giola, a sexual health physician – who provides gender care. Yeah- that sounds independent and credible.
RNZ NZ Herald. Stuff were too scared to ask experts in case it disagreed with their stated policy narrative of supporting trans at all cost. No dissent allowed.
Did they ask for comment from a doctor who opposes puberty blockers as flawed and dangerous.
Don’t be silly.
And Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking spoke to Professor Hofman this morning. Listen to what he says about puberty blockers. It won’t instill ANY confidence in the issue.
“Very safe reversible drug – but in terms of efficacy, the evidence is very poor”
VIDEO
But then he makes some very valid comments
VIDEO
Here’s the other problem,
The other reviewer is Dame Sue Bagshaw. And that should make us all very cautious.
Sue Bagshaw has been the go-to person for the media on this issue because she is one of the few medical professionals pushing the narrative they want. Let me show you what I mean.
Starting in 2015
A transition with a never-ending cost 2015
Radio NZ 2 Nov 2015For trans* youth, finding support is hard and getting funding for surgery is even harder.
The surgery involved cutting into his chest and removing the breast tissue. His nipples were cut off, resized and then stitched back into place.
Do you want this type of doctor reviewing treatment for your vulnerable child?
The article continues
Dr Bagshaw says she believes the cost is one of the main things preventing trans* youth from having surgery. She believes surgeries such as mastectomies and hysterectomies can make a huge difference to people’s lives and should be cheaper… She explains that suicide, anxiety, social phobias and depression are among the effects of trans* youth not getting the support that they need.
Yeah it’s got nothing to do with the medical professionals and school deans not dealing with the presenting psychiatric issues.
In 2021 she featured again….
Controversy brewing over transgender children's access to puberty blockers March 2021
Critics say the medical profession is far too ready to offer puberty blockers and they dispute the Ministry of Health's claims they're safe and reversible. However one expert who works with transgender children says the drugs are actually lifesavers
Bagshaw seems convinced that blockers are reversible but the literature review she had a student perform over the summer found potential impacts on brain maturation. In fact, in 2022 Otago University removed claims by Dame Sue Bagshaw in regards to bone density recovery after puberty blockers from its website due to inaccuracies. But here she is
Then in September 2022
Radio NZ - Puberty Blocker use jumps as expert backs results
Dame Sue Bagshaw, who has many transgender patients at her Christchurch youth practice, conceded there were some unknowns about the long-term effects of puberty blockers, particularly on bone density.
However, the same could be said of many drugs, and that was not a reason to stop prescribing them, she said.
So Bagshaw pushes the suicide trope and the safety of puberty blockers.
Can I remind you what the CASS review said, and also the recent research out of Finland which backed this up
Puberty blockers should no longer be prescribed to children except in the context of research due to these powerful drugs’ effects on brain development and bone health
Young people facing gender-related distress had no significantly different levels of suicide risk to other young people with similar levels of complex presentations… No evidence that gender-affirming treatment reduces suicide risk.
The Finnish study found that the suicide risk in a large group of adolescents was predicted by the psychiatric problems that often accompany gender distress, not by the gender distress itself.
Continuing with the Radio NZ article…
… "If you're going to say 'let's not use them' [puberty blockers], we're going to have redouble our efforts to ensure the mental health of transgender diverse young people is looked after," Bagshaw said. Offering psycho-social support as first-line treatment for gender dysphoria in young people was challenging, she said. Psychological interventions were also expensive, she said.
Focus on mental health – healing the mind, rather than cutting the body. What a great idea.
How does she deal with anorexia nervosa, or suicidal ideation?? Too challenging to offer mental health support?
And then – even after the CASS review was released, she was the go-to for the media
Kids know what they want. Almost a moral panic. Only 2%.
Kids know what they want? What child going through puberty knows what they want for their adulthood?
But this is who is reviewing the evidence brief for the Ministry of Health on puberty blockers.
ACTIVIST MEDIA
The other major hurdle in getting some common sense and protection for children is the mainstream media.
The mainstream media are always keen to push back on the research with some local anecdotal stories
FIVE independent mainstream media outlets (Radio NZ, Newshub, 1News, NZ Herald & Newstalk ZB) reprinted the same exact story. “Criticism of puberty blockers misguided, trans girl’s mother says” out of Radio NZ.
So let’s check the Radio NZ article
The mother of a transgender teenager says having her child come out at the age of eight let her and her family take "a deep collective breath". However, as far as their daughter was concerned, they accepted it immediately, Kylie said. "As soon she told us who she was, then we just went with that."
Eight! 8 years old – coming out – knowing as a biological boy that he was a girl. Really?
At that stage, there was no need for medical interventions. Within a couple of years, however, puberty was looming. "And at that point, she let us know very clearly she did not want the changes that would come to her, unless she was given something to give her support."
So she was fearful of puberty. It’s a human experience that everyone of us goes through. The natural process. But because of a flawed ideology, this young boy is scared of it.
Now in fairness to Radio NZ, there is some discussion on the CASS report and how puberty blockers virtually always lead to cross-sex hormones. And that there’s concern about the harms of puberty blockers. But the article admits
Nearly all children on blockers subsequently progress to a medical transition using cross-sex hormones.
Correct. Remember what I said earlier. Puberty blockers don’t pause. They predict. The overwhelming number of children on puberty blockers will go on to wrong sex hormones.
But here’s what one of the lead NZ doctors in this radical experiment says. This is from Patrick Gower’s Paddy’s got issues when they talked about the issues of puberty blockers. This is from the middle of last year – and it was after the Ministry of Health quietly removed the statement about puberty blockers being safe and reversible – but we were watching and called them out on it.
Have a watch – and note that the doctor is a member of none other than the radical activist group PATHA which is associated with WPATH!
Just refuses to acknowledge the science. Deep in the ideology. They’ll have a lot to answer for.
Chloe Cole who detransitioned at 16 years old and spoke at our conference in July also didn’t think about the consequences. She said it was the last thing she thought about.
The media don’t want to know about Chloe.
And that’s why they weren’t too keen on reporting this latest edict from the Ministry of Health, and only rushed to get comment from supporters of prescribing puberty blockers.
By the way, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US issued a warning label about the risk of puberty blockers in 2022.
NEW POSITION STATEMENT
So – what did this Ministry of Health review find.
The Evidence Review found a lack of good quality evidence for the effectiveness or safety of puberty blocking treatment in young people with gender dysphoria. We do not have good evidence to say that the medicines used improve the longer-term outcomes for young people with gender-related health needs – nor that the potential longer-term risks are low.
Wow – that is damning.
That should be the end of it. When would you prescribe something that lacks good quality evidence, and has no evidence that improves outcomes or how bad the risks are.
Yes you wouldn’t.
And any parent who has a doctor who wants to prescribe them for their child should be shouting – hell no!
But the Ministry doesn’t quite have that intellectual prowess – and I suspect is really struggling with making the admission it made today.
So they want more advice and input.
The Ministry is considering whether further measures need to be put in place to ensure no children or young people are unduly exposed to unknown risks.
The further measures being considered include updating clinical guidance, increased monitoring of prescriptions, and regulatory measures.
For example, a regulation made under the Medicines Act could restrict prescribing of puberty blockers in the context of gender-affirming care, without affecting prescribing for other conditions.
The Ministry wishes to take into account all information and views before any decisions on further safety measures are made.
In particular, the Ministry seeks input from organisations that represent people who may be affected by safety measures or that may be involved in how safety measures are used in practice.
We have a series of questions that ask about:
· whether additional safety measures are needed
· whether prescribing should be further restricted
· which young people with gender-related health needs should be able to receive this treatment if prescribing is further restricted
· what impacts there could be from additional safety measures.
There is also a Position Statement accompanying the evidence briefing which says
Findings
The full evidence brief and addendum are available on the Ministry of Health website. Key findings are as follows:
• There is some evidence that for people treated with puberty blockers, bone density appears to increase at less than the expected rate for individual stage of development.
• Organ systems are often impacted by hormone medication. However, for those on puberty blockers, there is currently no evidence of impact on renal or liver function, the onset of diabetes, or fertility.
• Whilst there are some studies that suggest an improvement in depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation for individuals treated with puberty blockers, the quality of the evidence is poor.
Overall, the evidence brief found significant limitations in the quality of evidence for either the benefits or risks (or lack thereof) of the use of puberty blockers. This means there is insufficient basis to say that puberty blockers are safe or reversible (or not) for use as an intervention for gender dysphoria in adolescents.
And for medical professionals
Clinicians who initiate puberty blockers should be experienced in providing gender-affirming care and be part of an interprofessional team. In their assessment, clinicians need to consider the possible presence of other associated conditions. Young people who experience gender incongruence experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. They should have timely access to therapeutic supports which meet their mental health needs. The use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming care remains a relatively new area of medicine.
So they want to press CAUTION, but they want to “continue to assess the emerging evidence on the safety and long-term impacts of puberty blockers in gender-affirming care, and will provide updates to this position statement as necessary.”
And children can still have puberty blockers.
It’s a little bit like saying “I am going to use this medication until there is proof that it doesn't work, but at least I am doing something about the problem rather than nothing and that makes us all feel better.”
It’s what some call ‘pathological compassion’.
Actually, healing the mind rather than chemicalising, cutting and confusing the body is a far better option.
It’s the option that the adults in the room would choose.
It’s the option that parents would choose – if they had all the facts.
We’ve pushed them this far.
Don’t stop. The ship is turning. We can see that.
This affects every young person who is struggling with their identity and may believe they’re the opposite sex.
We should have absolute confidence that children will be protected from a flawed and destructive ideology that has harmed so many young people already.
It’s up to you and I to call it out. Even if the Ministry of Health doesn’t want to hear it.