Wes Streeting is considering extending the ban on puberty blockers for under-18s to include controversial cross-sex hormones, the High Court has heard.
It came as judges today rejected a legal challenge that would have forced the Health Secretary to include the gender drugs in the ban over concerns about their safety.
Lawyers representing a prominent ‘detranstitioner’ argued that the Health Secretary’s approach to banning puberty blockers for children but not cross-sex hormones is ‘irrational and unlawful’.
Keira Bell - who took the Tavistock gender clinic to court after she was given puberty blockers aged 16 - sought a Judicial Review against Mr Streeting and NHS England over the move to continue prescribing ‘masculinising and feminising hormones’.
Zoe Gannon, representing Ms Bell and two other claimants, argued that the decision-making process within the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was ‘demonstrably flawed’ and urged the court to allow the challenge ‘in light of the risks posed to children’.
