Kennedy, US health officials outline new rules, warnings to block transgender care for youth in the US

By Jamie Gumbrecht, Sarah Owermohle, CNN

(CNN) — US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other health officials said Thursday that the federal government will block hospitals and doctors from providing transgender care to children, saying, “this is not medicine, it is malpractice.”

“These procedures fail to meet professionally recognized standards of care,” Kennedy said. “Medical professionals or entities providing sex-rejecting procedures to children are out of compliance with these standards of health care.”

Health officials said they expect to emphasize psychosocial assessment and support, including “compassionate, developmentally appropriate counseling,” even as the acknowledged there are a limited number of mental health care providers available.

At an event Thursday morning, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the proposed rules would prohibit hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid if they provide care such as puberty blockers and surgeries for transgender minors.

US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary also said the agency is sending warning letters to 12 makers and sellers of breast binders who marketed or sold the devices for treatment of gender dysphoria in children.

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said the research agency will end support for research into gender transition, saying, “it was junk science to begin with.”

HHS leaders on Thursday cited their own review of evidence and reports from other countries, many of which have faced sharp criticism.

Gender identity care, which is sometimes called gender-affirming care, is a multidisciplinary approach to help a person transition from their assigned gender – the one a clinician assigned them at birth, based mostly on anatomic characteristics – to the gender by which they identify. It can include mental health care or age-appropriate medical care such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers, gynecologic and urologic care and reproductive treatments.

Major mainstream medical associations – including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Endocrine Society, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry – have supported such care and agree that it’s the gold standard of clinically appropriate care that can provide lifesaving treatment for children and adults. Professional medical organizations do not recommend surgery for children as a part of care, and research shows that it’s rare among transgender or gender-diverse teens.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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