Senators ask Biden administration to loosen restrictions on testosterone access

[Vince]

Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures

In the last few years states have advanced a record number of bills that attack LGBTQ rights, especially transgender youth. The ACLU is tracking these attacks and working with our national network of affiliates to support LGBTQ people everywhere.

www.aclu.org

 

[Pacman]

Amazing to me the responses I have got so far. Not too many traditional fervent T supporters seem to want to jump on the ship with the current captains. Everything hyperpolitical now. If testosterone gets unscheduled do we really care the justification at the time?

I'll be the captain's first mate if it means this bill will get passed.

 

[tropicaldaze1950]

Thanks for your reply. In case it was accidental, here it is again in link form. If this gets deleted then I will have a more concrete answer . @Nelson Vergel can you determine how that post got deleted? Thanks for considering as the info can help me tailor my approach moving forward.

Testosterone's Controlled Status: "Protect the Kids & Sports" vs Gender Affirming Care

Well this makes for an entertaining development. Election year! How will Biden play this…protect “the kids” and the “integrity of sport” or provide equitable and cost effective access for gender affirming care. @TC_Luoma: paging John Romano. You would have a good article to dust this up...

forums.t-nation.com

https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_on_expanding_access_to_gender-affirming_hormone_therapy.pdf

Amazing to me the responses I have got so far. Not too many traditional fervent T supporters seem to want to jump on the ship with the current captains. Everything hyperpolitical now. If testosterone gets unscheduled do we really care the justification at the time?

Not apples to apples but two older types of insulin can be purchased without a prescription. As one recent poster informed us; In Thailand no rx for testosterone. In the UK, Viagra brand(25 mg IIRC) available OTC. China seems not to put restrictions on buying raw powders(PDE-5, testosterone) within the country nor externally.

If T is no longer regulated, I would think(silly me)that we would have more choices and lower prices, a.k.a.-competition in a free market system. So many men either don't have insurance or can't find a doctor to treat their low T. Yes, this request to change the schedule on T is to help those in the Trans community. That's fine. The government, federal or state, have no business, except for civil rights protection, of getting involved in personal choices or personal management of sexual/gender health.

I recall on another forum, years ago, of a 45 y.o. man who'd been severely injured in a vehicle accident. His doctors didn't know why he was going downhill. He was losing muscle mass, had deep depression and vanishing sex drive. Doing his own research and ordering his own labs(DiscountedLabs I presume?), he discovered his T was quite low. He ordered UGL and started treating himself. Slowly he regained his health and sexual function. Eventually, he found a doctor in Oklahoma City and made the long trip to become his patient. If anyone who needs testosterone could purchase pharma grade instead of questionable UGL, that would be good.

Alcohol is the most abused drug but I wouldn't want to see the return of Prohibition. People can die from abusing aspirin. People still will pay $10 a pack for cigarettes and there are zero health benefits from smoking. My point; There will be people who abuse testosterone if it's OTC for anyone over 18. The FDA, most of us agree, is under the influence of Big Pharma. The DEA is another enforcement agency that has been impeding legalizing marijuana, psychedelics or decriminalizing all drugs. They'd put themselves out of business! If China,Thailand and Mexico trust their citizens or visitors, what's wrong with the 'Land of the free'? Let's not forget, injectable B12 is rx in the US. B12! WHY?

 

[derrickb]

Not apples to apples but two older types of insulin can be purchased without a prescription. As one recent poster informed us; In Thailand no rx for testosterone. In the UK, Viagra brand(25 mg IIRC) available OTC. China seems not to put restrictions on buying raw powders(PDE-5, testosterone) within the country nor externally.

If T is no longer regulated, I would think(silly me)that we would have more choices and lower prices, a.k.a.-competition in a free market system. So many men either don't have insurance or can't find a doctor to treat their low T. Yes, this request to change the schedule on T is to help those in the Trans community. That's fine. The government, federal or state, have no business, except for civil rights protection, of getting involved in personal choices or personal management of sexual/gender health.

I recall on another forum, years ago, of a 45 y.o. man who'd been severely injured in a vehicle accident. His doctors didn't know why he was going downhill. He was losing muscle mass, had deep depression and vanishing sex drive. Doing his own research and ordering his own labs(DiscountedLabs I presume?), he discovered his T was quite low. He ordered UGL and started treating himself. Slowly he regained his health and sexual function. Eventually, he found a doctor in Oklahoma City and made the long trip to become his patient. If anyone who needs testosterone could purchase pharma grade instead of questionable UGL, that would be good.

Alcohol is the most abused drug but I wouldn't want to see the return of Prohibition. People can die from abusing aspirin. People still will pay $10 a pack for cigarettes and there are zero health benefits from smoking. My point; There will be people who abuse testosterone if it's OTC for anyone over 18. The FDA, most of us agree, is under the influence of Big Pharma. The DEA is another enforcement agency that has been impeding legalizing marijuana, psychedelics or decriminalizing all drugs. They'd put themselves out of business! If China,Thailand and Mexico trust their citizens or visitors, what's wrong with the 'Land of the free'? Let's not forget, injectable B12 is rx in the US. B12! WHY?

Even if testosterone were removed from the schedule I can't see it not being prescription only. We're just a very litigious, risk averse society. Plus if it went OTC then insurance would probably stop covering it. Like you said, injectable B12 is still prescription. Still, removing it from the schedule would be a huge improvement. It would make it much easier for doctors to prescribe and eliminate the ridiculous things I've run into like I go to Walgreens to refill my prescription but they are out and they can't transfer the prescription to the other Walgreens 2 miles away that has some because it's a controlled substance so I have to wait until it is back in stock at that particular store. What exactly is the point of something like that?

 

[readalot]

I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.

There are more than 100 pediatric gender clinics across the U.S. I worked at one. What’s happening to children is morally and medically appalling.

www.thefp.com

 

[BigTex]

I may need to see a therapist after trying to reading this and understand it. I am confused.

 

[readalot]

I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.

There are more than 100 pediatric gender clinics across the U.S. I worked at one. What’s happening to children is morally and medically appalling.

www.thefp.com

The Beginning of the End of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’?

Britain is closing the infamous Tavistock Centre. Finland and Sweden have radically revised their treatment guidelines. But American doctors are advertising surgeries to children on TikTok.

www.thefp.com

 

[readalot]

The Beginning of the End of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’?

Britain is closing the infamous Tavistock Centre. Finland and Sweden have radically revised their treatment guidelines. But American doctors are advertising surgeries to children on TikTok.

www.thefp.com

The New, Highly Touted Study On Hormones For Transgender Teens Doesn’t Really Tell Us Much Of Anything

If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the hyped-up headlines are unwarranted

jessesingal.substack.com

 

[readalot]

The New, Highly Touted Study On Hormones For Transgender Teens Doesn’t Really Tell Us Much Of Anything

If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the hyped-up headlines are unwarranted

jessesingal.substack.com

Researchers Found Puberty Blockers And Hormones Didn’t Improve Trans Kids’ Mental Health At Their Clinic. Then They Published A Study Claiming The Opposite. (Updated)

A critique of Tordoff et al. (2022)

jessesingal.substack.com

 

[readalot]

Researchers Found Puberty Blockers And Hormones Didn’t Improve Trans Kids’ Mental Health At Their Clinic. Then They Published A Study Claiming The Opposite. (Updated)

A critique of Tordoff et al. (2022)

jessesingal.substack.com

Trans kids' treatment can start younger, new guidelines say

A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s...

apnews.com

 

[BigTex]

The New, Highly Touted Study On Hormones For Transgender Teens Doesn’t Really Tell Us Much Of Anything

If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the hyped-up headlines are unwarranted

jessesingal.substack.com

This statement alone should be a wake up call:

The Kids In This Study Had An Alarmingly High Suicide Rate
​

While the authors had other issues with transparency in their study, they do note, right in the abstract, that two participants died by suicide. In the body, they write that “one [suicide occurred] after 6 months of follow-up and the other after 12 months of follow-up.” So within about a year of starting hormones, two of this study’s 315 kids were dead. They also note that there were 11 instances of “suicidal ideation during study visit.”

Do we already have a huge mental health issue with our kids?

Leading causes of deaths among adolescents aged 15–19 years: (CDC)

• Accidents (unintentional injuries)
• Homicide
• Suicide

Suicide Rates​

• Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for teens and young adults, ages 10-34 (CDC, 2022).
• 25.5% of adults ages 18-24 reported having seriously considered suicide in the past month. This is a higher percentage than any other adult age group (CDC, 2020).
• 18.8% of high school students reported having seriously considered suicide in the past year. This percentage is higher among females (24.1%), and lesbian, gay, or bisexual teens (46.8%) (CDC, 2020).
• 8.9% of high school students attempted suicide in the past year. This percentage is highest among females (11.0%), black teens (11.8%), and lesbian, gay, or bisexual teens (23.4%) (CDC, 2020).

Mental Health Statistics​

• 1 in 3 (30.6%) young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 experienced a mental, behavioral, or emotional health issue in the past year (SAMHSA, 2021).
• 26.9% of teens ages 12-17 have one or more mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral problems (NSCH, 2019).
• 36.7% of high school students reported feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year. This percentage is higher for females (46.6%), Hispanic students (40.0%), and lesbian, gay or bisexual students (66.3%) (CDC, 2020).
• Among college students, 29.1% have been diagnosed with anxiety and 23.6% have been diagnosed with depression (NCHA, 2021).

Increasing Concerns during the Pandemic​

• In 2021, 43.4% of 18-29 year olds experienced symptoms of depression, compared to 21% in 2019. 48.5% of 18-29 year olds screened positive for anxiety in 2021, compared to 11.0% in 2019 (CDC, 2020; Twenge, McAlister, & Joiner, 2021; CDC, 2022).
• 69.1% of 12-17 year olds perceived that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected their mental health (SAMHSA, 2021).
• Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 30.7% increase in emergency room visits for mental health reasons for children ages 12-17 (CDC, 2020).
• LGBTQ+ teens and young adults were more likely than non-LGBTQ+ teens/young adults to report using alcohol, pills, or drugs as a way to cope with their distress over the past six months (The Jed Foundation, 2021).