Dr Hilary Cass says she's been told not to travel on public transport because of fears for her safety.

Detractors - including an MP - have been spreading "vile disinformation" around her report for Britain's National Health Service (NHS).

Despite online threats, Cass wants to help implement her review's 32 recommendations.

Children at risk

Cass says disinformation about her transgender research started the day before the report's publication.

A social media influencer published a list of papers, claiming Cass's researchers rejected them because they weren't randomised control trials.

But Cass says the list had "absolutely nothing to do with" the report or any of the papers.

Deliberately trying to undermine an evidence-based report about children's healthcare is unforgivable she adds.

Despite being untrue, the influencer's claims about Cass's report spread.

Social media activists soon took up the influencer's cause.

They claimed the report included only two of 100 studies.

Without verifying this, Labour MP Dawn Butler told the House of Commons: "There are around 100 studies that have not been included in this Cass report and we need to know why."

In fact, researchers had appraised all 103 papers. From these, they pulled data from 60 - those of high and medium quality, Cass says.

Shaky foundations

Cass's NHS review found that an entire field of medicine aimed at enabling children to change gender had been "built on shaky foundations".

She found no evidence supporting the global clinical practice of prescribing hormones to under-18s. These hormones pause puberty or enable the young person to transition to the opposite sex.

The treatment "was not a safe or viable long-term option" Cass's 2022 interim report said.

As a result, Cass says the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) was ordered to close.

After Liz Truss became Tory Party leader and prime minister, Cass says "the debate got more aggressive".

Aggression continues

Cass's newly released final report involved transgender patients, families, academics and doctors.

While most had not "weaponised" her report, some activist groups are "pretty aggressive" Cass says.

Last week NHS adult gender clinics agreed to share data about 9,000 children treated at the Tavistock clinic.

Cass says the Tavistock clinic and five others had refused to co-operate with her research. The refusal was "co-ordinated" and "ideologically driven" she says.

Tbe Tavistock clinic also refused to provide data on detransitioners whom a psychiatrist had examined.

The review team had wanted to see if risk factors in a patient's history could be linked to detransition.

Ideological capture

The House of Commons Equalities minister says there had been an ideological capture of institutions, including the NHS. This needs correcting if Cass's recommendations were to be fully delivered.

Meanwhile, long waiting lists for treating children with gender dysphoria have seen several private clinics opening.

Cass finds this concerning, saying young people would not get the level of holistic care NHS clinics provided.

• The Times

"Puberty blockers … are not available to children and young people for gender incongruence or gender dysphoria because there is not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness," the NHS England website's section on "treatment" for gender dysphoria reads after the update.

The drugs block a child's natural developments during puberty by preventing the production of hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen. For example, they prevent height growth, a girl's breast development, and a boy's facial hair growth, among other things.

Read More

The ‘Leave Them Certain' campaign has been launched by the NHS Blood and Transplant following a law change that has introduced an opt-out or "deemed consent" system for organ donation. As of May last year, organs and tissues of a deceased person can be automatically transplanted, unless the person concerned has explicitly expressed the desire not to donate.

The aim of the campaign is to ensure that the donation does not take place against the will of the deceased. This is why it is important for people to make their decision clear and talk to their loved ones about organ donation before they die.

Read More

Bishop Philip Egan's pastoral message followed a report which concluded 650 people died at a hospital within his diocese between 1989 and 2000 after they were given large doses of painkillers without medical justification.

Egan said he was "shocked and saddened" by the report and described the deaths as "a terrible tragedy."

Seriously ill patients are still facing the same threats within Britain's National Health Service, Egan says.

The likelihood of them being over-sedated and dehydrated mean people are safer being cared for at home than in hospital, he says.

While he says Britain's National Health Service "is a huge blessing," Egan says it's important to be "vigilant to the policies, values, priorities and procedures that operate within it."

"As next of kin, gently insist on being involved in decisions. It might be appropriate to ask staff for a second opinion or a re-evaluation of treatment."

He has also called for a review of geriatric and end-of-life care "in relation to fundamental moral principles."

In this respect, he noted it is "not morally permissible until the very last to withdraw feeding and hydration."

So far, no medical professionals have been prosecuted following the investigation into the deaths of the 650 people.

Jeremy Hunt, who is the secretary of state for health, has indicated that police will study new evidence produced by the investigating panel.

Source

• Crux
• Catholic Herald
• Catholic Register
• Image: Twitter.com