State medical board closes clinical-trials loophole for care of transgender youth

Transgender youth in Florida seeking to start puberty blockers and hormone therapy will have no access to treatment in the state once a pending ban takes effect — not even in clinical trials.

The Board of Osteopathic Medicine on Friday removed an opportunity for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria to receive nonsurgical gender-affirming care in clinical trials.

The ban will run counter to recommendations from major medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the Endocrine Society.

It’s unclear when the restrictions will begin. A spokesperson with the Department of Health said late Friday that no date has been set for the rules to take effect.

The pending ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy won’t apply to youth already being prescribed those medications. They will be grandfathered in.

Florida doctors who treat new patients could lose their medical licenses once the ban is in effect.

“I’m very concerned ... that these proposed rules are going to cause a great deal of harm,” Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said Friday. “This rule-making process has been politically motivated.”

Loophole for clinical trials closes

At a November meeting, the Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine approved rules that will bar doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapy and other medical interventions to new patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria and under the age of 18.

At the time, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, but not the Board of Medicine, agreed to an exception that would have allowed doctors to prescribe nonsurgical care to new patients younger than 18 who enrolled in clinical trials at Florida medical schools.

But the osteopathic board voted to scrap its exception Friday following a request from the Florida Department of Health. Medical doctors vastly outnumber osteopathic physicians in the state.

The decision followed hours of emotional testimony from a crowd almost entirely in support of medical care for transgender youth.

John Wilson, the health department’s general counsel, said the state agency opposed the exception. The department argued that having two different rules would be “unnecessarily confusing” and would allow universities to continue operating gender clinics “without any meaningful regulatory oversight.”

Speakers describe their experiences

Speakers at the hearing waved small transgender flags and wore pink or blue bandanas around their necks.

Jacob Wiley, an 18-year-old transgender man, said in a news conference that he “wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this treatment.” Prior to starting hormone therapy at 15, Wiley said he was suicidal and depressed.

The boards’ move, he said, doesn’t only block the voices of transgender youth, but also affects the rights of parents to choose what’s best for their kids.

The hearing may have been the last chance for the public to weigh in on the boards’ rollback of gender-affirming care. It’s unclear how many Florida children receive such treatment.

At least one lawsuit is expected to challenge the restrictions.

Simone Chriss, director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at Southern Legal Counsel, has said the nonprofit law firm plans to sue the state over its ban. Chriss and others are currently suing the Agency for Health Care Administration over its rule prohibiting Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria care. That rule went into effect in August, and the lawsuit is ongoing.

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration pushed for the medical boards’ ban and the Medicaid restrictions. Board members received personal calls from Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo urging them to craft the new standard for transgender healthcare, according to The New York Times.

After the Department of Health issued guidance last April advising against the social or medical transition of transgender children, former state Surgeon General Scott Rivkees signed onto a letter that said the guidance misrepresented the evidence around gender-affirming care.

“We all have to ask ourselves why is this happening now, after more than a two-decade track record of success and experience,” Rivkees told the Tampa Bay Times this week.