U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that the federal government will block hospitals and physicians from providing transgender medical procedures to children, calling the practices “not medicine” but malpractice.
Kennedy said the procedures do not meet professionally recognized standards of care and warned that medical professionals or entities offering sex-rejecting procedures to minors are out of compliance with established health guidelines. Federal health officials said the approach going forward will emphasize psychosocial assessment and support, including compassionate, developmentally appropriate counseling.
At an event Thursday morning, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said proposed rules would prohibit hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid if they provide treatments such as puberty blockers or surgeries to transgender minors.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said the agency has sent warning letters to 12 manufacturers and sellers of breast binders marketed or sold as treatment for gender dysphoria in children.
National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said the agency will end support for research into gender transition, saying, “it was junk science to begin with.”
