A joint legislative committee for Florida’s state medical boards has advanced a rule that would prohibit minors from receiving gender transition surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone therapies.
Members of Florida’s Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine Joint Rules/Legislative Committee recommended the rule on Friday following a request from state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo to devise rules to block medical professionals from providing such treatment for youth. The rule will now advance to the state Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine, which will determine if it gets final approval.
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“I believe that based upon the testimony that we’ve heard this morning and the materials in the portal, that the risk of puberty suppressing therapies, cross-hormonal therapy and surgery, those risks outweigh the possible benefits and that there is a lack of consistent, reliable, scientific peer reviewed evidence concerning the efficacy and safety of such treatment,” said Nicholas Romanello, a member of the state Board of Medicine who proposed the rule, according to Florida’s Voice.
If the rule is passed, minors already receiving the treatments would be allowed to continue if they were part of an Institutional Review Board-approved clinical trial at an affiliated university center.
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Earlier this year, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which runs the state Medicaid program, finalized a ruling barring the medical assistance program for low-income people from covering similar treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender transition surgery. Florida is one of at least 10 states that restrict Medicaid coverage for these types of care.
