You may have heard puberty blocker advocates argue that the drugs actually benefit transgender children more than they harm them. As it turns out, the study claimed this was based on falsehoods.
The Daily Caller reported, The University of Washington (UW) and Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) conspired to cover their tracks after falsely claiming their study had found that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones improved mental health for transgender youths, according to emails obtained by Jason Rantz
A primary point the study was used to make was that puberty blockers cause rates of depression to plummet.
According to the data used in the study, depression rates actually only fell by a mere 1% and no causal relationship between the blockers and depression rates was established.
The rate of moderate to severe depression in transgender youth who took puberty blockers was 57% initially, but 56% after a full year.
This number is roughly eight times higher than the rate of depression in the general population.
Puberty blockers did not effectively solve the issue but data was misrepresented to make it appear this way.
The researchers concluded that “risks of depression and suicidality may be mitigated with receipt of gender-affirming medications,” Despite the fact that the study has a large number of dropouts.
The studies Control group went from initially having 92 participants to only 6.
The problem with the study is the way that it was portrayed to the public. The press release implied in accurate information to sway opinions on the topic.
The study was sold as “life saving” but thorough critiques done by independent journalist Jesse Singal showed that the methodology did not add up.
Despite this, UW and SCH spokespeople reportedly colluded to prevent the correction of inaccurate reporting and even agreed to reject questions from outlets they deemed “conservative”.