Shiddy is fudging things when he says that puberty blockers aren't FDA-approved.
The only FDA-approved use for these drugs in children is for central precocious puberty, a condition in which children begin to sexually mature before age 8 or 9 because of pituitary gland dysfunction.
Also the evidence that there's serious and irreversible harms doesn't seem strong:
In September, the FDA published a study that found “no evidence for an increased risk of fracture” for precocious puberty patients who take leuprolide, the generic name for AbbVie’s Lupron and similar drugs. However, the FDA study didn’t review cases of children who took the drug for gender dysphoria.
IDK why the side effects would be dramatically different depending on the reasons someone is taking a medication?
Another concern about puberty blockers emerged in 2016, when the FDA ordered drugmakers to add a warning about psychiatric problems to the drugs’ label as a treatment for children with precocious puberty. On its label for Lupron, AbbVie says: “Psychiatric events have been reported in patients” taking puberty blockers. Events include emotional symptoms “such as crying, irritability, impatience, anger and aggression.”
The FDA pursued the label change after receiving 10 reports through its adverse event reporting system of children who had suicidal thoughts, including one suicide attempt, according to a Dec. 5, 2016, agency report reviewed by Reuters. One of the cases involved a 14-year-old patient taking Lupron for gender dysphoria, the records show. In the report, the FDA said suicidal ideation and depression are “serious events,” and there is “enough evidence to warrant informing prescribers, even in the face of uncertainty about causality.”
Is 10 a lot? Is that number any higher than what you'd see among kids in that age group not taking puberty blockers?
Reuters found 72 adverse event reports submitted to the FDA from 2013 through 2021 of children on puberty blockers who showed suicidal, self-injurious, or depressive behavior. The children were taking the drug for central precocious puberty or gender dysphoria or were simply identified as under 18.
A Dec. 17, 2020, adverse event report to the FDA describes a 15-year-old patient taking Lupron for gender therapy. The patient had a history of “major depressive disorder” and a family history of depression. The patient experienced “mental health deterioration” while on Lupron and attempted suicide twice. AbbVie wrote in the report to the FDA that “there is no reasonable possibility” that the adverse events were related to Lupron. The company did not elaborate.
Again, is 72 over 8 years a lot compared to a regular sample?
Dr Brad Miller, division director of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and M Health Masonic Children’s Hospital, expressed surprise at the number of adverse event reports Reuters found. He said he was particularly concerned because doctors prescribe puberty blockers for transgender children, who are already at higher risk of mental health problems.
So are the blockers creating mental health problems, exacerbating existing ones or are people who take them simply more likely to have mental health problems already?
I also want to know how to these types of side effects compare with other commonly prescribed medications for children and youth?
Of course, all of this should be studied in depth, but the only way to do that would be to "experiment with children" which I'm told should be a crime.