Nebraska Joins Suit Against Medical Group Over 'Deceptive' Push for Child Sex Change Operations and Puberty Blockers

by John Gage

(Photo courtesy of the Attorney General’s Office)

The state of Nebraska joined Alaska, Iowa, Texas, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) on Wednesday, claiming the organization used deceptive practices in promoting child sex change operations, puberty blockers, and other transgender medical interventions.

The coalition alleges that WPATH “misled parents and children about the medical consensus and medical necessity” of medical intervention for children and adolescents with dissatisfaction or “distress about their sex traits.”

“WPATH has long represented itself as the final authority for the gender-related treatment of children, advancing profit-driven ideology unsupported by science and withholding crucial information from children, parents and doctors,” Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement.

FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said the WPATH “made false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the necessity, effectiveness and safety of puberty blockers, hormones and sex-change surgeries.”

Ferguson said the FTC has a long history of holding companies accountable that “make deceptive and unsubstantiated health-related claims.”

WPATH is an international nonprofit that states its mission is “to promote evidence-based care, education, research, advocacy, public policy, and respect in transsexual and transgender health.”

The lawsuit alleges that transgender clinicians were pushed to present transitioning as a “lifesaving” medical treatment based on WPATH’s statement, and that WPATH’s work led to clinicians asking parents “would rather have a live daughter or a dead son” — a phrase that has been used by many supporters of transgender operations and puberty blockers for children.

“These statements echo WPATH’s messaging, rely on WPATH’s false and unsubstantiated assertions, and induce the purchase of pediatric transition services from WPATH members,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claims that the organization failed to “disclose material information about the significant risks and life-long side effects associated with medical transition drugs, surgeries, and other interventions” and that WPATH labeled nearly every pediatric transition service as “medically necessary” with the goal of getting insurers to cover transition costs.

WPATH Suing FTC

Earlier this year, WPATH filed a compliant against the FTC trying to stop an investigation into their organization. The group claimed the investigation was “part of an all-of-government campaign to undermine access to gender-affirming care and attack the First Amendment rights of medical organizations.”

A federal Judge in the District of Columbia issued a pause to the FTC’s probe in May.

WPATH released a statement, saying it believed it was in a “strong position” to win the latest lawsuit and that it will continue “its mission to promote evidence-informed care.”

“WPATH is in a strong position to prove that the FTC is acting out of pure retaliation as part of the federal government’s relentless and targeted campaign to undermine gender-affirming care by attacking the First Amendment rights and the independence of professional medical organizations.”

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.