The New York Times broke the news in October that a doctor and advocate of adolescent gender treatments chose not to publish the results of the long-awaited study out of fear the findings would be “weaponized” by opponents of transitional care for minors.
Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy began the study in 2015 as part of a broader effort to study the long-term health outcomes of medical treatment for transgender kids and teens.
Olson-Kennedy and colleagues were asked by the NIH to study the effects of puberty blockers — which delay or prevent physical changes like developing breasts or deepening one's voice — on children with gender dysphoria.
The findings of that work have yet to be published. Olson-Kennedy told The New York Times that the drugs did not improve the mental health of the children who took part in the study, possibly because they were already doing well by the time the study began.
Six Republican senators announced the inquiry in a letter sent Thursday to Director of the NIH Monica Bertagnolli. The letter was signed by Sens Bill Cassidy (La.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Ted Cruz (Texas), James Lankford (Okla.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) and Mike Lee (Utah).
Almost all of the lawmakers have either introduced or co-sponsored legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors.
In the letter, lawmakers accused Olson-Kennedy of withholding the study’s findings because “they did not support her political agenda.”
“To be clear, we oppose taxpayer funding going toward gender transition interventions for minors,” the letter reads. “Further, taxpayers have the right to know the outcomes of the research they fund, particularly when the intervention studied has life-altering impacts.”
Senators requested that Bertagnolli turn over every annual progress report on the study no later than Dec. 19, 2024. Doing so would ensure “transparency in medical research,” the letter said.
Read more here from The Hill’s Brooke Migdon.
