A father is taking the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to court after his 16-year-old son was prescribed cross-sex hormones even though the official policy discouraged their use, The Telegraph reported Sunday.
He is demanding that the High Court review a decision by his doctor to give the drugs to his teenage son to treat “gender dysphoria.” He says that decision was opposed by Dr. Hilary Cass, a pediatrician who has extensively reviewed drugs and has stated there was “remarkably weak” evidence to justify giving either cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to children apparently struggling with their gender identity.
The Cass Review stated that the drugs offer high interference for children that could “change the trajectory of psychosexual and gender identity development.” Her report so angered transgender extremists that she no longer takes public transit for fear of being attacked.
The United Kingdom has recently updated a temporary ban on puberty blockers for anyone under the age of 18 to a permanent one. Health Secretary Wes Streeting was reacting to concerns that these drugs that can either delay or prevent puberty pose a long-term health risk and potential drug dependency on adolescents.
Cross-sex hormones, instead of delaying or preventing puberty, bring on sexual changes that would occur if one had been born the opposite sex. Lawyers for the Brighton father said the WellBN Clinic’s prescription of the drugs was illegal and dangerous and that the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board should never have agreed to pay for the drugs.
Court documents reveal that Dr. Sam Hall at the Brighton WellBN, issued the prescription for the cross-sex hormones to Child O in October “without any diagnostic process compatible with the Cass Report nor NHS England’s clinical commissioning policies.”
The father now wants the High Court to issue an injunction against the prescription of any further cross-sex hormones. “As a family, we have been caring for our son, who has been distressed around his gender dysphoria during his final years in secondary school. We asked the school leadership, the NHS and the children services of the council to support him and keep him safe, while therapists work with him,” he said.
“However, in October this year, we found out that Dr. Sam Hall of WellBN had issued a prescription for powerful medication blocking male testosterone and adding female estrogen, which impacts on brain development, fertility, and sexual function,” the father continued.
“This is not a safe treatment for adolescents with gender dysphoria, not compliant with the recommendations of the Cass Review, and unlawful. We have therefore requested a judicial review of Dr Hall’s actions.”
