US paediatric leaders back gender affirming approach while also ordering evidence review

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August 14, 2023
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US paediatric leaders back gender affirming approach while also ordering evidence review
For two years in a row, AAP members submitted formal resolutions to the executive board asking “that the academy commit to the principles of evidence based medicine by eschewing narrative and other types of non-systematic reviews as the basis for its recommendations” and either use existing systematic reviews or commission its own.

A resolution submitted in April with two dozen signatories also asked that an “urgent statement” be made urging paediatricians “to exercise extreme caution in transitioning minors with hormones and surgeries pending the results.”

The lead author of these resolutions, Julia Mason, a paediatrician in Gresham, Oregon, and a founder of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, told The BMJ she is “gratified” that AAP is “making a commitment to look at the evidence” but is “disappointed they are not taking a precautionary approach.”

AAP announced that its policy update process will be “transparent and inclusive,” and will “invite members and other stakeholders to share input.”

Mason said, “I’m hoping that means that they will include clinicians with different views, detransitioners, and parents.”