Many doctors think ‘gender-affirming’ care for kids is ‘crazy’ but fear speaking out: Dr. Marty Makary
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary joined ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss the America Medical Association chief’s controversial decision to defend ‘gender-affirming’ care for kids.
The new President of the American Medical Association Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld has ruled transgender treatments for minors as an "ethical and scientific" procedure – a determination that has been widely but silently dissented within the medical community.
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary pulled the curtain back during his appearance on "Fox & Friends Weekend," arguing that "a lot" of doctors think "gender-affirming" care for kids is "crazy," but they are "too afraid" to speak out.
"I think a lot of doctors think this is crazy, but they are too afraid to speak up. Mayo Clinic just fired a doctor who said, hey, testosterone and transgender female athletes, that's not fair. And he was a famous exercise physiologist, that basically sends a message. You've got to be in line with the party establishment thinking on this," Dr. Makary explained, Saturday.
A pro-gender affirming care activist protest Kentucky Senate bill SB150, known as the Transgender Health Bill outside the Senate chamber at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., Wednesday, March 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
"We've lost our ability to critically appraise research. Where's the research to support this? If anything, we're lacking the key studies. What's the regret rate among these kids that have these operations? And what's the true incidents in the population?" Dr. Makary continued.
Transgender surgical and chemical interventions includes hormone blockers, cross-sex hormones, double mastectomies, breast implants, surgical inversion of the penis to create a neo-vagina, testical removal, facial reconstructive surgery for feminine or masculine features, removal of the uterus, removal of the ovaries, and the creation of a penis using the urethra and tissue from a forearm or thigh.
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Children experiencing dysphoria may start getting treatment in early childhood, and may progress to surgeries starting at age 18, or sometimes younger.
Dr. Marty Makary continued, urging Americans to wake up to what he sees as the politicization of the medical community.
"Just as in the general society, people are wearing their political badges. That's happening now in the medical community, Pete So you'll have an entirely flawed research study and then somebody will cite it and says, this is exactly why we have to do this, simply because it aligns politically," Dr. Makary explained, Saturday.
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"Take, for example, a study on hormone therapy just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was no control group, and two of the kids out of 300 committed suicide. And then that's what they're calling the 'science and the evidence.' That's not the appropriate science. And yet that's in line with the party message. And that's what people are citing."
"Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy weighed in, asking Dr. Makary, "Why is there so much lack of courage? Why are so many doctors silence?"
"We as physicians, realize how common this is out there, more and more doctors are speaking up, and we need to speak up," Dr. Makary began.
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"Unfortunately, the Mayo Clinic suspension of that doctor sent a strong message that if you speak up, you're going to risk your livelihood, your job as a doctor. But we've got to get more research. Right now. We don't have the critical research that we should be getting. And that's because research is only done to support a foregone conclusion."
In an appearance on CBS, Friday, AMA President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld defended the practice of gender treatment for kis: "In at least six states now if I practice evidence-based care, I can go to jail. It’s frightening. When a patient shows up in my office, if I do the right thing from a scientific, from an ethical perspective, to know that that care is no longer legal, criminalized, and could wind me in prison."
Ehrenfeld complained that "backseat drivers" were "telling us what to do" on reproductive care and "gender-affirming care" for transgender patients.
Fox News' Hannah Grossman and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.