House GOPs Demand Clinical Data on Puberty Blockers

Republican House Energy and Commerce Committee members are calling for the transparent release of clinical data from taxpayer-funded research in reaction to a New York Times article about an NIH-funded researcher and a study of puberty-blocking drugs that was withheld from publication because of the “charged American political environment.” The puberty blockers did not show mental health improvements, the researcher told the Times, probably because the children were already mentally well when the study began.

“This is a clear example of the politicization of science at the expense of children,” committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said in a statement. “For a scientist to withhold findings deliberately because the findings don’t substantiate a preferred outcome further erodes public trust in the NIH and its programs. Our committee will be launching an investigation into the matter.”