Landmark legal action launched over ‘medical scandal’ as transgender hormone treatment given to children
Lawyers have launched a landmark legal case against Health Secretary Wes Streeting over his failure to ban the private sale of cross-sex hormones such as testosterone to under 18s.
Representatives acting for three people, including campaigner Keira Bell, have written to the Department of Health calling for a ban as there has been for puberty blockers for children questioning their gender identity.
Bell says her life has been “flipped upside down” by taking the drugs that have some irreversible effects.
The other two people involved are parents and wish to remain anonymous.
Keira Bell, 28, has previously taken legal action against the NHS over her treatment when she was a teenager more than a decade ago at what was then the only NHS gender clinic.
She was given puberty blockers to halt changes that come with puberty, at 16 and then the cross-sex male hormone testosterone at 17 before having surgery to remove her breasts.
Bell, along with two other claimants, a father who fought to protect his child from undergoing hormone treatment at an overseas online clinic, and a mother representing a support group for concerned parents, have launched the case in the High Court.
The challenge takes direct aim at what they call “irrational and unlawful” Government policy.
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If successful, the case, brought by the legal firm Sinclairs Law could force the Government to shut down private prescribing of cross-sex hormones and ban those imported from overseas, a move that would have huge implications for transgender healthcare in the UK.
This legal fight is being dubbed a “medical scandal” by Bell and her legal team, which claims the Government is failing to act against “unscrupulous, ideologically driven private clinics” which are still prescribing cross-sex hormones to children.
Bell, who described her transition as being related to her mother’s alcoholism, social isolation, and depression, said: “Cross-sex hormones come with very serious, life changing effects that will damage your health long-term.
“Girls will face an altered perception forever with a deep voice and facial and body hair that cannot be reversed. Unchecked clinics are prescribing these drugs to children based on an ideological way of thinking. It is time to put protections in place for children to prevent this harm.”
Paul Conrathe, a solicitor at Sinclairs law who is leading the case, added: “My clients have commenced proceedings against the Secretary of State for Health because he has refused to protect vulnerable children from rogue overseas gender clinics.
“Thousands of children are exposed to profound and lifelong harm by taking cross sex hormones prescribed outside of the stringent safety requirements of the NHS.
“A loophole in obtaining prescriptions from overseas providers can only be closed by Wes Streeting.
“He has refused to do so leaving my clients no other option than to take action through the Courts.”
Bell also stated: “I am now a twenty-eight-year-old woman left with no breasts, a deep voice, body hair, a beard and reproductive atrophy (wasting of reproductive tissues). I have not had any testing to discover the true extent of the damage.
“I have been thinking about having children over the past few years and due to my health issues, I do not believe this is a possibility. If it was a possibility, I would not be able to breastfeed my children.
“I am mortified at the damage that I was allowed to inflict on myself from the age of sixteen, all under the care of medical professionals…the legal action cites expert evidence suggesting 30 percent of those seeking medical transition, come to regret their decision.
“And it highlights new research showing one in 1,200 children in England have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria – believing there is a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. This equates to 10,291 in England alone.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch supported the legal case. She said: “I fully support Keira Bell taking legal action.
“Wes Streeting and his Government are doing nothing to prevent experimental drugs being given to vulnerable teenagers by unscrupulous, unregulated overseas clinics.
“While puberty blockers may now be banned, cross sex hormones are even more dangerous, and Labour are failing to protect vulnerable children in the UK from their irreversible effects.
“Instead of Keira having to take the Government to court to stop more children experiencing the sort of harms she suffered, Wes Streeting should do the right thing and act immediately to prevent any pharmacy from dispensing these dangerous drugs to vulnerable teenagers.”
The claim argues that the Government moved swiftly to ban puberty blockers, used to delay the changes of puberty, after the Government commissioned Cass Review published last year which found the drugs were being prescribed without good evidence of safety. But it argues no action was taken to stop the prescription of cross sex hormones.
“The decision contains a logical flaw. It is illogical to ban one, but do nothing in relation to the other,” the legal writ states. “The failure to ban cross-sex hormones, the risk of allowing this medical scandal to continue, is so profound as to render it irrational and unlawful.”
The legal team argues exactly the same concerns that led to the ban on puberty blockers – lack of evidence, irreversible harm, and risks to vulnerable children – apply to cross-sex hormones. Yet, it claims the Government has ignored those risks, leaving children exposed to “potentially life-altering medical treatment” from private providers.
The judicial review argues the Health Secretary’s failure to ban cross-sex hormones violates the duty to protect children’s health. “If action was ‘necessary’ for puberty blockers, then it is necessary for cross-sex hormones. These drugs cause irreversible physiological changes. This decision is irrational,” the claim states.
The legal team also highlighted findings from the independent Cass Review, published last year, which warned that cross-sex hormones are being prescribed without long-term evidence and could permanently damage young people’s fertility and bone health.
It concluded cross sex hormones should only be prescribed with “extreme caution” and only after those seeking help had undergone a review by a team of different experts.
Even NHS England has recently raised the alarm, with outgoing Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard warning in April 2024 that private clinics were “exploiting loopholes” to prescribe unregulated medication to British children.
“Ministerial action is required,” she wrote to the Government.
Bell’s case has reignited the debate over child medical transition, with critics accusing the Government of ignoring scientific evidence in favour of political pressure.
“The Cass Review found that clinical practice in this area had advanced far beyond the evidence base,” the legal claim states. “Yet children are still being given irreversible medical treatment.”
Bell’s legal team has requested an urgent hearing, arguing that with private clinics still prescribing hormones to teens, children are at immediate risk.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We continue to work with NHS England to implement the full recommendations from Dr Cass’s independent, expert review.
“This includes putting in place additional safeguards to oversee the use of cross-sex hormones, including strengthened oversight from national clinicians.”