Missouri Transgender Clinic Stops Hormone Drugs for Minors to Avoid Fines
A Missouri transgender clinic that previously vowed to continue prescribing puberty blockers and hormones to minors despite an investigation by the state attorney general’s office has now said it will cease providing the gender-transitioning drugs.
In a statement on Sept. 11, the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital said physicians will “no longer prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors for purposes of gender transition” owing to the state’s newly enacted law regarding transgender care.
Missouri’s New Law
The new law, which went into effect earlier this month, bans health care providers from performing transgender surgeries and other treatments on minors under the age of 18, although minors who began taking puberty blockers or hormones prior to Aug. 28 will be permitted to continue.
Physicians who violate the law risk having their licenses revoked.
The law, which is set to expire in August 2027, also allows former patients who underwent transgender surgeries or treatments to prosecute physicians within 15 years.
If successful, former patients could receive at least $500,000 in compensation.
In its statement, the Washington University Transgender Center said patients who are currently receiving gender transition care at the clinic will be referred to other providers for these services.
Meanwhile, the center will continue to offer other services, including “education and mental health support for all patients” and medical care for patients over the age of 18, officials said.
Transgender Center ‘Disheartened’
“We are disheartened to have to take this step. However, Missouri’s newly enacted law regarding transgender care has created a new legal claim for patients who received these medications as minors,” the statement read. “This legal claim creates unsustainable liability for healthcare professionals and makes it untenable for us to continue to provide comprehensive transgender care for minor patients without subjecting the university and our providers to an unacceptable level of liability.
“Our medical practitioners have cared for these patients with skill and dedication. They have continually provided treatment in accordance with the standard of care and with informed consent of patients and their parents or guardians,” the statement continued. “We are grateful to our providers for their dedication to their patients and their profession. We are committed to offering our support to patients and their families as they consider their options for future care.”
The Washington University Transgender Center has been widely criticized since allegations were made by Jamie Reed, a former case manager at the Transgender Center.
Allegations and Investigation
Ms. Reed, in a February 2023 article with The Free Press, claimed to have left the clinic because she could “no longer participate in what was happening there,” alleging that young patients and their parents were not being properly informed about life-altering risks of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones—including sterility—and that such drugs were being prescribed to patients regularly.
Ms. Reed also alleged a lack of formal protocols for treatments and claimed gender-altering prescriptions were given to children with mental issues, even after parents revoked consent.
The claims prompted an eight-week internal review at the Washington University Transgender Center which ultimately found that allegations of substandard care causing adverse outcomes for patients at the Center were “unsubstantiated.”
Missouri Attorney General Launches Probe
However, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey also began investigating Ms. Reed’s claims at the center before widening that probe into all pediatric transgender health care centers in the state, including requesting records from a Planned Parenthood clinic about its policies on gender-transitioning surgeries and treatments for minors.
Meanwhile, a New York Times investigation that included interviews with dozens of patients, parents, former employees, and local health providers, corroborated some of Ms. Reed’s claims.
The report found that the clinic often relied on external therapists, “some with little expertise in gender issues,” to evaluate young patients and whether or not they should receive hormone medications.
“Doctors prescribed hormones to patients who had obtained such approvals, even adolescents whose medical histories raised red flags. Some of these patients later stopped treatment due to complications,” the report stated.
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