Plastic surgery expert expounds on insufficient evidence to justify trans surgeries for minors

CNA Staff, Aug 21, 2024 / 12:30 pm

The president of the Plastic Surgery Foundation, the research arm of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) told “EWTN News Nightly” that as of now, the research on chest and genital surgery for adolescents with gender dysphoria “simply isn’t strong enough to support any definitive recommendations” for such surgeries.

The ASPS recently made headlines for breaking with a perceived medical consensus, as many leading U.S. medical organizations continue to support both hormonal treatments and surgeries for minors with gender dysphoria.

“As members of the multidisciplinary care team, plastic surgeons prioritize evidence-based medicine,” Dr. Scott Bradley Glasberg, president of the Plastic Surgery Foundation, told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro on Tuesday.

“We have a responsibility to provide comprehensive education and maintain a robust and evidence-based informed consent process,” he continued. “Currently, the research on chest and genital surgeries for adolescents with gender dysphoria simply isn’t strong enough to support any definitive recommendations from our society,” he stated.

When asked if the professional association experienced any political pressure to arrive at a particular decision, Glasberg responded that “plastic surgery is a specialty guided by evidence, and we’re not influenced by external sources or by politics.” 

“We believe that more high-quality research in this rapidly evolving area of health care is what’s needed, and our priority remains focused on patient safety and informed decision-making,” he added.

At least seven ASPS members are being sued by detransitioners, according to Manhattan Institute fellow and pediatric gender medicine expert Leor Sapir, who first published the statement from ASPS on the lack of evidence for justifying “transgender” surgeries.

For instance Kayla Lovdahl, 18, sued an ASPS doctor and two other physicians last year for allegedly pressuring her into sex-change surgeries when she was a child. ASPS member Winnie Tong and two other doctors performed a double mastectomy on Lovdahl when she was 13 years old and gave her puberty blockers when she was 12, according to her legal complaint.

Lovdahl “detransitioned” shortly after, at age 17, and received psychotherapy treatment for her mental health symptoms. 

When asked about the ASPS’ recent statement on the quality of referenced evidence, Glasberg further explained: “We believe that the level of evidence in these studies are of low quality. What that means is every study has strengths and limitations that can tell us something interesting. But it’s important to take a step back and look at the effects that we see and analyze the larger body of evidence that accumulates over time.”

Uncertainty over long-term efficacy

“When we say there’s uncertainty as to long-term efficacy for the use of certain surgical interventions for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria, we mean that there’s uncertainty at many different levels,” Glasberg continued. “We’re unclear, really, what the outcomes [and] data show, what the long-term effects of these treatments might be or could be.”

“We feel a responsibility to remain committed to that evidence-based approach and seeing out the research necessary for the society to make any firm recommendations or come up with any guidance or guidelines,” he said. 

Glasberg explained that ASPS will be following the evidence closely in the future, focusing on “patient safety” and “the clinical evidence available.”

“It’s all about the evidence for us,” he said. “Again, we’re separate from politics. We’re separate from outside forces.”

“We are committed to being a scientific organization of surgeons who want to do right by our patients and want to provide the education necessary to our members to make the right choices that are in the best interests of our patients and that of patient safety,” Glasberg noted.

Catholic bioethical take

In a separate interview with EWTN News, Catholic bioethicist Dr. Joseph Meaney, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, also weighed in on the issue. 

“Particularly with young people, that these irreversible changes should not be done to young persons who don’t really understand the lifelong consequences,” Meaney explained. “I think American medical societies are more and more going to realize this.” 

“I think also that they are going to be aware of the legal liability that doing this to children could come back in the form of lawsuits later on saying, ‘Wait a second, I did not have proper informed consent as to how life-transforming this would be, and I regret that decision,’” he noted.

The American College of Pediatricians in June called on all medical institutions to stop gender transition medication and surgeries for minors, urging organizations to treat mental health instead.