The Florida Department of Health, in the United States, sent on Thursday (2) to the State Board of Medicine a letter with guidelines to create new rules and establish standards of care in the medical field, following guidelines that advise against child treatments for sex reassignment.
Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, head of the state Department of Health, pointed out the lack of scientific evidence on the safety of these treatments and the effectiveness of these procedures and urged to the Florida Board of Medicine to take into account the state agency’s guidelines, which advise against childhood sex reassignment interventions. The move is part of another effort by Governor Ron DeSantis to restrict sex reassignment treatments in the state, particularly in children.
“The scientific evidence supporting these complex medical interventions is extraordinarily weak. Current standards set by numerous professional organizations appear to follow a preferred political ideology rather than the highest level of generally accepted medical science. Florida must do more to protect children from policy-based medicine. Otherwise, children and adolescents in our state will continue to face a substantial risk of long-term harm,” reads a statement released by the Florida Department of Health press office.2022
