Puberty blockers are drugs that delay puberty by inhibiting the body’s normal synthesis of sex hormones. The decision to place “banning orders” on these drugs was contested by the campaign group TransActual and an unidentified young person.
Mrs. Justice Lang rejected the objections on Monday, stating that it was illegal to forbid private prescriptions of the medications for the treatment of patients younger than eighteen.
During a hearing on July 12, the London High Court heard arguments against enacting an emergency ban because secondary legislation already forbids European or private prescribers from prescribing puberty blockers and limits NHS access to clinical trials.
Nonetheless, the Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department of Health upheld the assertion and declared that the case ought to be dropped.
In her decision to dismiss the complaint, Mrs. Justice Lang stated that the court should exercise caution when intervening in what was clearly a sophisticated and multi-factored predictive assessment that involved the application of clinical judgment and the weighing of conflicting risks and dangers.
