A High Court judge has found that a UK emergency ban on the sale or supply of puberty blockers is lawful.
The restrictions came into effect on June 3 and apply to young people under 18 with gender dysphoria in England, Wales and Scotland.
Justice Beverley Lang said in a ruling made public on Monday that a review commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS) about the "very substantial risks and very narrow benefits associated with the use of puberty blockers" had provided "powerful scientific evidence" in support of the restrictions.
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 delay 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 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.
According to the review commissioned by the NHS, when determining if a treatment should be routinely available, "it is not enough to demonstrate that a medication doesn’t cause harm, it needs to be demonstrated that it will deliver clinical benefit in a defined group of patients".
'Concerned about the safety of young trans people'
Chay Brown, healthcare director for TransActual, said the government decided to ban the blockers and then found ways to justify it.
“We are seriously concerned about the safety and welfare of young trans people in the UK," Brown said.
“Over the last few years, they have come to view the UK medical establishment as paying lip service to their needs and all too happy to weaponise their very existence in pursuit of a now-discredited culture war."
The ban was put in place by the former Conservative government that was ousted from power earlier this month, but the new Labour government may make it permanent.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he welcomed the ruling, though he said he was treading cautiously. He said he was working with the NHS to set up a clinical trial on puberty blockers.
“Children’s healthcare must be evidence-led," Streeting said. “We must therefore act cautiously and with care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people."
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