• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Puberty Blockers in Children Were Always an Unregulated Live Experiment Based on No Evidence

by Dr Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson
18 March 2024 5:19 PM

Five years ago, we reviewed gender-affirming hormones in children and adolescents.

To find the evidence, we searched PubMed Clinical Queries for systematic reviews (the original search strategy is available here).

Our conclusions stated:

There are significant problems with how the evidence for gender-affirming cross-sex hormones has been collected and analysed that prevent definitive conclusions from being drawn. …

The development of these interventions should, therefore, occur in the context of research, and treatments for under 18 gender dysphoric children and adolescents remain largely experimental. There are a large number of unanswered questions that include the age at the start, reversibility, adverse events, long-term effects on mental health, quality of life, bone mineral density, osteoporosis in later life and cognition. We wonder whether off-label use is appropriate and justified for drugs such as spironolactone, which can cause substantial harm and even death. We are also ignorant of the long-term safety profiles of the different [gender-affirming hormone] regimens. The current evidence base does not support informed decision-making and safe practice in children.

The review formed part of an independent analysis for the BBC’s Panorama programme, in which we said transgender teen care “needs urgent regulation”. Also, Carl wrote an article in the Times saying it was time to end the experiment on children.

In the intervening years, we’ve been labelled as transphobes, subject to three different complaints at the University of Newcastle, where Tom was a visiting professor, the University of Oxford and the BMJ, where we posted the original review.

All of these were dismissed – it’s hard to argue that reviewing the evidence should be subject to complaints. But it did have a chilling effect to shut down our BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine posts.   

Now, five years after we published our review, NHS England says children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics. Its review found that there was “not enough evidence” that they were safe or effective. A 2022 review by Dr. Hilary Cass reported “gaps in evidence”. 

At Trust the Evidence, we do not have any vested interest in the outcome of treatments when we review the evidence. 

Yet, consistently, we have found that an evidence-based approach has proved controversial. People tend to hold strong beliefs and convictions about various treatments, which is precisely why an impartial, evidence-based approach is crucial. When the pharmaceutical industry’s competing interests and financial gains are considered, having an evidence-based approach is essential for reviewing the evidence and informing decisions.

For all those following an evidence-based approach, it’s essential to be ready for the onslaught of complaints, insinuations and abuse that comes with the territory. However, keeping to an evidence-based approach is critical to informing decisions—in the end, the evidence will win out — and the question is how many are harmed before we get there.

We’ve posted the review in full on Trust the Evidence.

Prof. Carl Heneghan is the Oxford Professor of Evidence Based Medicine and Dr. Tom Jefferson is an epidemiologist based in Rome who works with Professor Heneghan on the Cochrane Collaboration. This article was first published on their Substack, Trust The Evidence, which you can subscribe to here.

Stop Press: A Google search for puberty blockers in the U.K. brings up as the first result a pro-trans American web page from the Mayo Clinic that lists five “benefits” of puberty blockers at the top including “improve mental well-being” while side-effects are buried near the bottom. The NHS page stating that puberty blockers “are not available to children and young people for gender incongruence or gender dysphoria because there is not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness” is the third result down – and barely visible without scrolling.

Tags: ChildrenEvidenceMedicineNHSPuberty blockersTrans ActivismTransgenderism

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

GB News Hits Back at Ofcom After Five Shows Found to Have “Broken Rules”

Next Post

J.K. Rowling Vows to Continue “Calling a Man a Man” in Defiance of “Ludicrous” New Hate Crime Laws

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

7 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
zebedee
zebedee
1 year ago

You can always let your paper languish on a preprint server with its own doi code. I like the Open Science Foundation.

15
0
Solentviews
Solentviews
1 year ago

Excellent article which lifts the curtain on the never ending conveyor belt of ‘academic’ studies which are constantly trying to nudge our behaviours. With experience (age) it is easy to see through them, but many don’t have this filter.

Also, it is perhaps yet another example where the internet has actually been a step backwards in human development and understanding. Unintended consequences etc.

More and more the general public need to trust their own observations and intuition (Climate change scam/Covid scam/Institutional Racism scam etc).

47
0
varmint
varmint
1 year ago

The “Official Science” industry

14
0
stewart
stewart
1 year ago

Below the article a few days ago by Peter Civan, I asked who funded the journals.

Thanks, Dr Livermore, for such a thorough answer.

17
0
wryobserver
wryobserver
1 year ago

“If, on the other hand, my paper is rejected by the old free-to-publish journal, I’m immediately encouraged to transfer it to an Open Access stablemate, or the publishers ‘All Topics’ science journal, with rejection hinted to be less likely. “

Well well. And I thought I was the only one. Just like the postmasters…

3
0

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

Episode 36 of the Sceptic: Karl Williams on Starmer’s Phoney Immigration Crackdown, Dan Hitchens on the Assisted Suicide Bill and Tom Jones on Reform’s Local Council Challenge

by Richard Eldred
16 May 2025
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

Chinese ‘Kill Switches’ Found in US Solar Farms

15 May 2025
by Will Jones

News Round-Up

16 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

Spy Agency Report on the Alleged “Extremism” of AfD Turns Out to Be So Stupid That it Destroys all Momentum for Banning the Party

16 May 2025
by Eugyppius

The Folly of Solar – a Dot on the Horizon Versus a Blight on the Land

16 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Civil Servants Threaten to Strike Over Trans Ban in Women’s Lavatories

16 May 2025
by Will Jones

The Folly of Solar – a Dot on the Horizon Versus a Blight on the Land

29

Civil Servants Threaten to Strike Over Trans Ban in Women’s Lavatories

25

Spy Agency Report on the Alleged “Extremism” of AfD Turns Out to Be So Stupid That it Destroys all Momentum for Banning the Party

19

News Round-Up

18

Chinese ‘Kill Switches’ Found in US Solar Farms

27

Trump’s Lesson in Remedial Education

16 May 2025
by Dr James Allan

Spy Agency Report on the Alleged “Extremism” of AfD Turns Out to Be So Stupid That it Destroys all Momentum for Banning the Party

16 May 2025
by Eugyppius

The Folly of Solar – a Dot on the Horizon Versus a Blight on the Land

16 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Renaud Camus on the Destruction of Western Education

15 May 2025
by Dr Nicholas Tate

‘Why Can’t We Talk About This?’

15 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

POSTS BY DATE

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Feb   Apr »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Perfecty
Do you wish to receive notifications of new articles?
Notifications preferences