WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a letter advising health care providers, risk managers, and state medical boards to immediately update treatment protocols for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The agency cited findings from a comprehensive review that questioned the safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries used on children and adolescents.
The letter, signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., references the HHS’s “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,” published May 1. According to the review, these interventions are based on “weak evidence” and carry “significant risks,” including infertility, impaired bone density, cardiovascular disease, and adverse mental health outcomes.
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“Health care providers are reminded that when medical interventions pose unnecessary, disproportionate risks of harm, they should refuse to offer them, even when requested or demanded by patients,” the letter states.
Click here to read the entire report by HHS.
The review criticizes international guidelines such as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care Version 8 (SOC-8), calling them ideologically driven and lacking scientific rigor. It also notes that no international body conducting systematic reviews endorsed WPATH or Endocrine Society guidelines due to their “lack [of] developmental rigour and transparency.”
HHS emphasized its legal obligation to protect children from harm and pointed to growing international concerns, including recent restrictions in the U.K., Sweden, and Finland on medicalized gender treatments for youth. The agency instead recommends prioritizing psychotherapy and other non-invasive approaches.
Additionally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reminded providers of their duty to adhere to the highest standards of care and whistleblower protections for those reporting abuses in HHS-funded programs were reinforced earlier this year.
Kennedy urged providers to review the findings and revise their clinical practices accordingly. “Our nation’s children must be protected from harmful interventions,” he wrote.
