University stops prescribing gender medications to minors

The New York Times 12 September 2023

Washington University in St Louis will stop prescribing gender medications to minors, the institution said on Monday 11 September, citing “unacceptable” legal liability under a new Missouri law banning such treatments, writes Virginia Hughes for The New York Times.

The change comes seven months after a former employee of the university’s youth gender clinic claimed that doctors there were hastily prescribing the treatments, throwing the centre into the cross hairs of politicians trying to outlaw so-called gender affirming care for adolescents. Current patients under 18 will be referred to other providers for these medications, which include puberty blockers and hormones, the university said in a statement. “We are disheartened to have to take this step,” the statement said.

In June, Governor Mike Parson (Republican) of Missouri, signed into law the ban on gender-affirming care for new patients under 18, part of a wave of more than 20 laws across the country severely restricting such care. Under the new law, existing patients of Washington University’s youth gender clinic were still allowed to receive the treatments. But the law includes a provision allowing patients to make legal claims against doctors who prescribe hormonal medications to minors. The university said this part of the law made it “untenable” to continue providing this care.
Full report on The New York Times site

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