Protesters for and against medical procedures for transgender minors demonstrate outside the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
While NIH declined comment to Fox News Digital citing ongoing litigation, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been very critical of the types of drugs the Oversight Project is also concerned about.
Kennedy has called puberty blockers for minors "castration drugs," and suggested young people cannot be considered prescient enough to make such life-changing medical decisions.
"Minors cannot drive, vote, join the army, get a tattoo, smoke, or drink, because we know that children do not fully understand the consequences of decisions with life-long ramifications," he wrote on social media.
"The more I learn, the more troubled I have become about giving puberty blockers to youth," Kennedy said in May 2024.
As secretary, Kennedy urged doctors to reconsider child sex-change operations in a formal letter obtained by the Daily Caller in May.
"HHS expects you promptly to make the necessary updates to your treatment protocols and training for care for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria to protect them from these harmful interventions," it read.
Neal Cornett, a lead attorney in the case, told Fox News Digital he would also like to see any internal NIH reports on the physiological effects of related drugs Lupron and Supprelin.
"Imagine that you’re 14 years old – you take some kind of puberty blocker – you’re basically stunted, your bones aren’t growing, you have osteoporosis at the age of 15… that's going to do a psychological number on you," Cornett said.
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Howell said there is an absolute connection, if allegations bear out, between the Tuskegee Experiments of the mid-20th century on African Americans and studies testing out puberty blockers on 21st century children.
"When I first read [of the study] – I was reminded of Tuskegee Experiments on African Americans [where the uniformed U.S. Public Health Service] gave them drugs... to test out treatments there; horrific events," he said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, which was listed as the affiliate medical center for Olson-Kennedy. A number listed for Olson-Kennedy's California practice was disconnected.
She told the Times in October 2024 she intended then to publish the data but blamed delays on funding cuts — a claim the NIH denied, the paper reported.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dc-watchdog-sues-docs-modern-day-tuskegee-experiments-giving-transgender-rx-youth