A letter from members regarding the Cass Review and the College’s response | RANZCP

A letter from RANZCP members: Cass Review Final Report

As RANZCP members, we believe our serious professional concerns regarding the gender interventions being provided to Australian children and adolescents are not being adequately represented by the College in its media communications and political advocacy.

On 10 April 2024, the Cass Review Final Report was released. Commissioned by the UK’s NHS, the report conducted eight independent systematic reviews of the global research literature to underpin its recommendations. It reveals there is no clear evidentiary basis for gender affirmation interventions and evidence for puberty suppression and cross-sex hormone treatment is of such poor quality that no foundation exists for clinical decisions and informed consent.

The review recommends puberty blockers be restricted to ethics-approved research trials and cross-sex hormones be used with extreme caution in people between ages 16 and 18, with approval from an independent expert panel required. It cautions that social transition is an active intervention that may have significant effects on psychological functioning and longer-term outcomes. It concluded: “the evidence does not adequately support the claim that gender affirming treatment reduces suicide risk” and that treatment for gender dysphoria should not be based on the “gender-affirming” model, which is the model used by Australian paediatric gender services.

We request the RANZCP urgently:

  • acknowledge the recommendations of the Cass Review as relevant to Australian paediatric gender services, and
  • call for health ministers to establish an independent body to investigate Australian paediatric gender services and implement relevant recommendations from the Cass Review

Source: A letter from members regarding the Cass Review and the College’s response | RANZCP

One thought on “A letter from members regarding the Cass Review and the College’s response | RANZCP”

  1. I agree with this recommendation and would be happy to be involved to promote this issue. I am a former general practitioner, I currently teach medical ethics to medical students and my masters thesis was on this topic.

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