State AG tells gender clinic to cease prescribing hormones pending investigation

Testosterone (Pixabay)

By Laurel Duggan
Daily Caller News Foundation

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called for a moratorium on the prescription of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital Friday pending an investigation into allegations of potentially illegal conduct.

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Bailey announced an investigation into the clinic Thursday following a former clinic employee’s allegations that doctors were prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex medications to minors with minimal psychiatric screening, without fully informing patients and parents of severe side effects and in some cases against the wishes of parents altogether. Bailey urged the clinic to stop taking new patients and prescribing blockers and hormones to protect children’s safety during the investigation in a Friday letter to the president of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis.

“In light of the explosive allegations of illegal conduct and malpractice occurring at the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, I recommend that you impose an immediate moratorium on the Center prescribing puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to new patients,” the letter read. “A moratorium will ensure children remain safe as the many investigations- including your own- progress.”

I want Missouri to be the safest state in the nation for children, which is why we are calling for an immediate moratorium on the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to any new patients. pic.twitter.com/zLAZBxbTEu

— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) February 10, 2023

“The whistleblower’s sworn affidavit says the Center has permanently sterilized hundreds of children, caused many children to attempt suicide, and performed irreversible gender-transition surgeries on minors — all while lying to the public and parents,” Bailey wrote. “Moreover the affidavit says that the Center prescribes puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones automatically, without individualized assessment of each child, and often without parental consent.”

The clinic’s doctors were dismissive of parents’ rights and viewed themselves as better-informed decision makers when it came to children’s medical choices, according to the whistleblower. Missouri only requires consent from one parent for medical procedures, and the clinic would typically side with the parent who favored medical transition when parents disagreed over the best course of action for their child.

In one case, a clinic doctor testified in favor of an 11-year-old girl’s medical transition during a custody battle against the father’s wishes, according to the former employee. The mother called her daughter a “tomboy” and initially said she didn’t express discomfort with her body or go by a boy’s name, then reversed her story a month later after the clinic told her the child didn’t qualify for an evaluation; the clinic then allegedly took her on as a patient and put her on puberty blockers.

Washington University said it was alarmed by the allegations and would investigate them internally in a Thursday statement after the whistleblower’s claims were made public.

“As always, our highest priority is the health and well-being of our patients. We are committed to providing compassionate, family-centered care to all of our patients and we hold our medical practitioners to the highest professional and ethical standards,” the statement read.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.