A High Court judge has upheld the British government’s emergency ban on puberty blockers. Justice Beverley Lang says in a ruling that a review commissioned by England’s National Health Service found “very substantial risks and very narrow benefits” of the treatment.
The group TransActual and a youth who cannot be named under a court order sought to challenge the decision of former Health secretary Victoria Atkins to ban prescribing hormones that can pause the development of puberty. They are sometimes prescribed to help children with gender dysphoria by giving them more time to consider options that could include gender reassignment.
The judge threw out the challenge, saying the ban was lawful. The ban restricts the NHS from providing the medication outside of clinical trials and prevents it from being prescribed by private suppliers.
The NHS stopped prescribing puberty blockers last year, saying there was not enough evidence about the benefits and harms.
Source: High Court judge in the UK upholds the government ban on puberty blockers | AP News