Yale Report Slams Cass Review: 'Misrepresents Data' on Transgender Youth
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Researchers at The Integrity Project, from medical and legal experts at the Yale School of Law and Yale School of Medicine, have published a new report this week finding that the Cass Review “obscures key findings, misrepresents its own data, and is rife with misapplications of the scientific method.”
The landmark Cass Review, published earlier this year by Dr. Hilary Cass, offered a series of recommendations regarding gender-affirming healthcare provided by the NHS (National Health Service) for youth under 18 in Great Britain.
The Cass Review’s claims that there was “remarkably weak” evidence on medical interventions among trans youth, a claim which almost immediately led to far-reaching implications, including leading to the NHS in Scotland to pause prescription of puberty blockers and hormone treatments to new patients under 18 years old.
In June 2024, the NHS Health Secretary cited the Review as the rationale for emergency regulations that criminalize the supply of puberty-pausing medications to new patients under 18 in England, Scotland, or Wales.
Led by Professor Anne Alstott of Yale Law School and Dr. Meredithe McNamara of the Yale School of Medicine, the co-founders of The Integrity Project, An Evidence-Based Critique of “The Cass Review” on Gender-affirming Care for Adolescent Gender Dysphoria aims to critique assertions put forward by the Cass Review among the international community of medical and legal experts.
“It is vital that the national and international medical community, policymakers, and the media understand what the Cass Review is and what it is not,” Professor Alstott said in a press release. “The Review will likely be cited by states [in the U.S.] attempting to ban gender-affirming care, but, in fact, it does not recommend a ban on medical care for transgender youth.”
According to McNamara, the Cass Review “levies unsupported assertions about gender identity, gender dysphoria, standard practices, and safety of gender-affirming medical treatments” and “repeats claims that have been disproved by sound evidence.”
The report states that Cass Review contains “serious methodological flaws, including the omission of key findings in the extant body of literature.”
“The Cass Review is an important document for those considering how to remedy the shortage of health services for transgender young people in the UK,” said McNamara. “It is not an authoritative guideline or standard of care, nor is it an accurate restatement of the available medical evidence on the treatment of gender dysphoria."
The new report from the Integrity Project is co-authored by a group of eight legal scholars and scientists; all of which have expertise in research and/or clinical practice in gender-affirming care; and their areas of specialty include adolescent medicine, pediatric endocrinology, child and adolescent psychiatry, and epidemiology.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
