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. 2024 Feb;32(1):26-31.
doi: 10.1177/10398562231211130. Epub 2023 Nov 9.

Gender dysphoria: Reconsidering ethical and iatrogenic factors in clinical practice

George Halasz  1 , Andrew Amos  2
Affiliations

Gender dysphoria: Reconsidering ethical and iatrogenic factors in clinical practice

George Halasz et al. Australas Psychiatry. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the treatment of gender dysphoria described in Bell v Tavistock (UK 2020). Bell documents the treatment and sequelae of a 16-year-old adolescent referred to the Tavistock with gender dysphoria. Her case highlights contrasts between gender affirming care and comprehensive care.

Conclusions: Consistent with other western centres, in the 2010s, the Tavistock began treating patients with gender dysphoria under the 'Dutch protocol' for gender affirming care. Bell reveals concerning lapses of clinical governance influenced by activists and linked to patient harm. The recent suspension of a senior child psychiatrist from an Australian public hospital service after questioning the evidence base and ethical foundation of gender affirming care underlines the need to resolve these uncertainties to address the crisis in the treatment of gender dysphoria.

Keywords: administrative psychiatry; forensic psychiatry; gender dysphoria.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe Authors declare that there were no conflicts of interest to report and no ethics approval was required for this paper. The first author is on the Editorial Committee and the second author is Deputy Editor of Australasian Psychiatry.

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