Key facts
- A UK high court judge has dismissed a legal challenge to a clinical trial involving puberty blockers for children.
- The trial, named Pathways, will recruit over 220 children aged 11-16 starting August 1.
- Campaigners argued the trial could harm participants, but the judge found their claims lacked a realistic chance of success.
- Specialist doctors will assess each patient over many months before inclusion in the trial.
- King's College London researchers will conduct the trial, aiming to gather evidence on puberty suppression.
A UK high court judge has cleared the way for a clinical trial investigating the use of puberty blockers in children, dismissing a legal challenge brought by campaigners. Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled on Friday that the claims made by opponents of the planned research, to be conducted by King's College London (KCL), had no realistic prospect of success.
The Pathways trial aims to recruit over 220 children aged between 11 and 16 years old, starting August 1. KCL stated that participants would be assessed by specialist doctors over many months, with the opinion that they have a reasonable prospect of clinical benefit from the treatment.
Campaigners, including psychotherapist James Esses and Keira Bell, who detransitioned after taking puberty blockers as a teenager, expressed disappointment. Bell stated that the medical profession and morality do not always align, suggesting the trial should not proceed. The Bayswater Group also voiced concerns, believing the trial does not meet legal and ethical thresholds for research on minors due to its design, potential harms, and lack of a sufficient prior evidence base.
A KCL spokesperson emphasized that the trial is carefully designed to provide much-needed evidence on the benefits and risks of puberty suppression to improve NHS care. Eligibility will be restricted to a small number of young people with long-term gender incongruence who have already received comprehensive psychological and social support. The study's design has been reviewed by independent researchers and approved by the UK's health research regulators, the HRA and MHRA. The trial was commissioned in response to a review by Dr Hilary Cass, which identified a "remarkably weak evidence" base for gender medicine.