Puberty-blocking drugs used to treat gender dysphoria in kids linked to thousands of deaths

Records kept by the Food and Drug Administration show that thousands of deaths are connected to a puberty-blocking drug that is being used to treat gender dysphoria in children, according to the Christian Post.

Lupron, a drug that is primarily used to treat prostate cancer in men and endometriosis in women, has not been approved by the FDA for the purpose of treating gender dysphoria, but it is being prescribed to children anyway — without regard for the long-term dangers.

Since 2012, the FDA has recorded more than 40,000 "adverse reactions" to the drug. More than 25,000 of those reactions between 2014 and 2019 are considered "serious." And 6,370 of those reactions have resulted in death.

Some examples of the adverse reactions include breast disorders, malignant neoplasms, and various psychiatric and nervous disorders.

The drug is clinically approved for use in children who have a condition causing them to go through puberty too early; in those situations, it is administered for a short time. However, its use to delay puberty in gender dysphoria cases (to allow children/their parents to decide whether to undergo gender transition treatments) is potentially deadly long term.

"Gender dysphoria is not an endocrine condition, but is a psychological one and should, therefore, be treated with proper psychological care," \endocrinologist Michael Laidlaw said in an interview with the Christian Post. "But it becomes an endocrine condition once you start using puberty blockers and giving cross-sex hormones to kids."

The drug, when given to a healthy person, disrupts their endocrine system and creating a disease state that would normally be treated by an endocrinologist.

"It's a serious condition that endocrinologists would normally diagnose and treat because it interferes with development, but in [gender dysphoria] cases they're inducing this disease state," Laidlaw has said.

A report from the company that produces Lupron shows that $669 million of the drug was sold in 2017 in the United States alone.