Puberty blockers banned indefinitely for under-18s who think they are transgender

PUBERTY blockers have been banned indefinitely for under-18s who think they are transgender.

The super-strong sex hormones can no longer be prescribed to new patients.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told MPs the independent Commission on Human Medicines had ruled they posed an “unacceptable safety risk” to children and teenagers.

Mr Streeting said: “It is a scandal that medicine was given to vulnerable young children without proof that it is safe or effective.”

The country’s leading gender clinic, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, was shut down this year due to safety fears.

A review has since found that children were put at risk with prescriptions for puberty-suppressing hormones, which can permanently change their development.

Dr Hilary Cass’s review said that any evidence of their benefits was “remarkably weak”.

Former Conservative Health Secretary Victoria Atkins outlawed the drugs in the summer and Mr Streeting has now extended the ban indefinitely for both NHS and private clinics.

He said: “We are working with NHS England to open new gender identity services so people can access the support they need.

NHS director James Palmer said: “We welcome the government’s decision to ban access through private prescribers, which closes a loophole that posed a risk to children and young people.”