Puberty blockers: BMA calls for lifting of ban on prescribing to children

The BMA has called for a pause in the government’s ban on the prescribing of puberty blockers to children and young people aged under 18 with gender dysphoria, which was upheld in the High Court on 29 July.12

The association made the call on 31 July as it announced it was setting up its own “task and finish” inquiry to “publicly critique” the review on gender identity services for children and young people chaired by Hilary Cass, a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

The BMA council motion described the methods underpinning Cass’s recommendations as “unsubstantiated” and “driven by unexplained study protocol deviations, ambiguous eligibility criteria, and exclusion of trans-affirming evidence.” It commits the BMA to “lobby and work with other relevant organisations and stakeholders to oppose the implementation of the recommendations made by the Cass review.”

But some BMA members are unhappy at the association’s stance. BMA council member Jacky Davis told The BMJ, “I don’t believe the BMA position on the Cass report represents the views of our membership, and certainly no effort …