Do No Harm expects FTC to take action to protect minors from transgender procedures

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(The Center Square ) – After submitting comments to the Federal Trade Commission's public inquiry on how the child transgender industry has harmed and deceived consumers, medical group Do No Harm expects action to protect the nation’s children. 

Do No Harm medical director Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Center Square: “We anticipate the FTC will take meaningful action considering the public comments it has received – protecting vulnerable children from unsafe and unproven sex change interventions, while also seeking justice for those who have already been harmed.”

“The FTC has a longstanding history of protecting consumers from deceptive practices,” Miceli said. 

“For too long many children and their parents have been told that so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ is safe and effective, despite evidence to the contrary,” Miceli said. 

“These false and misleading claims have harmed countless minors and their families,” Miceli said.

In its comment submitted to the FTC, Do No Harm disputed that gender-affirming care for minors is safe, effective, and “reduces the risk of suicide,” and that “puberty blockers are reversible” and “rates of regret are low.”

Do No Harm is an organization of “physicians, nurses, medical students, patients, and policymakers focused on keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice,” according to its website. 

The group’s comment to the FTC states that “at Do No Harm, we fight to protect children, assert truth, and defend science, which is why we stand firmly against the false and misleading claims of the radical advocates of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors.” 

The FTC launched a public inquiry in late July to “learn from consumers how [gender-affirming care for minors] has harmed and deceived them personally,” as The Center Square reported.

Prior to this 60-day comment period, the FTC held a workshop on the dangers and deceptive practices of gender-affirming care for minors, TCS reported.

When asked what it will take to end transgender procedures on minors in the U.S., Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Center Square how both the government and the medical field play a role in the industry’s termination.

“The Trump Administration is pursuing a multifaceted strategy to keep kids safe from harmful transgender procedures,” Miceli said. “This involves actions by the FTC, as well as HHS, CMS, and DOJ.”

“However, Congress, too, must act to end these procedures on minors,” Miceli said.

“In the absence of federal legislation, it falls to states to ensure laws clearly protect children from the harms of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ – a step that more than half of states have already taken,” Miceli said.

Miceli told The Center Square that “beyond government efforts, it’s also vital that more and more physicians speak out, paving the way for a renewal within medicine – specifically, a cultural shift in organized medicine that acknowledges the harms of pediatric medical transition, discards the damaging gender ideology behind it, and reaffirms a commitment to evidence-based care and the core tenets of medical ethics.”

“Simply, US medical associations must follow the evidence, just as many European nations have done, and call for an end to these harmful practices in children,” Miceli said.

The Federal Trade Commission has not yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment.