UK imposes indefinite puberty blocker ban for children

A ban on puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria in the UK is to be made indefinite after experts warned of an "unacceptable safety risk".

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) had published independent expert advice that there is "currently an unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children".

The department said the commission had recommended indefinite restrictions while work is done to ensure the safety of children and young people.

The NHS announced in March that children would no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, with the then-Conservative government saying this would help ensure care is based on evidence and is in the "best interests of the child".

The following month, the Cass Review concluded that the quality of studies claiming to show beneficial effects for children and young people with gender dysphoria was "poor".

Dr Hilary Cass said at the time of her final report into children's gender care that a single Dutch study, "suggesting puberty blockers may improve psychological wellbeing for a narrowly defined group of children with gender incongruence", had formed the basis for their use to "spread at pace to other countries".

In May, a ban on puberty blockers was introduced by the then government with emergency legislation, preventing the prescription of the medication from European or private prescribers and restricting NHS provision to within clinical trials.

The announcement that the ban on sale and supply of puberty blockers through private prescriptions is to be indefinite "closes a loophole that posed a risk to the safety of children and young people", NHS England said.

While health is a devolved matter, the ban applies across the UK, the DHSC said.

Plans are in place to set up a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year.

UK Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said there is a need to "act with caution" and "follow the expert advice" in caring for this "vulnerable group of young people".

He said: "Children's healthcare must always be evidence-led. The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people.

"Dr Cass's review also raised safety concerns around the lack of evidence for these medical treatments. We need to act with caution and care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people, and follow the expert advice.

"We are working with NHS England to open new gender identity services, so people can access holistic health and wellbeing support they need.

"We are setting up a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year, to establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine."