Review says puberty blocker curb has not led to suicide rise

The claims have been led by legal campaign group, the Good Law Project, on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The group is challenging the decision by the previous health secretary to end the prescription of puberty-blocking drugs by private clinics to children and young people with gender dysphoria.

That was recommended in the Cass Review, published in April, which found “remarkably weak” evidence on the use of the treatment.

In response to their claims, the new health secretary launched an independent review led by Prof Appleby which analysed data from NHS England on suicides of patients at the Tavistock clinic, based on an audit at the trust.

Covering the period between 2018-19 and 2023-24, he found there were 12 suicides – five in the three years leading up to 2020-21 and seven in the three years afterwards.

“This is essentially no difference,” Prof Appleby says in his report, “taking account of expected fluctuations in small numbers, and would not reach statistical significance.”

He adds: “In the under 18s specifically, there were 3 suicides before and 3 after 2020-21.”

The patients who died were in different points in the care system, including post-discharge, suggesting no consistent link to any one aspect of care, Prof Appleby noted.

However, he said it was likely there had been a rise over a longer period as more young people at risk came forward with gender identity problems.