This is Northumberland Calling 12.04.24
The Science isn’t settled but it is circular edition
Hello American (Particularly Central Ohio) this is Northumberland Calling
The Cass fallout remains a hot topic. The government with Labour offering bipartisan support is going to compel the Adult clinics to release the data they withheld from Cass and the University of York so that they can gather more robust evidence about the outcomes. There is to be a separate enquiry into the practices of the Adult clinics. The doors have been truly blown off on this scandal and I do hope that this time, lessons are learnt, and people are prosecuted for what they did to vulnerable children. I personally blame the medical establishment for allowing this scandal to continue for so long and not holding this area of medicine to the same standard they require of other areas.
An excellent editorial from the BMJ explains why the Cass Report has revealed such a medical scandal – among other things the methodology bar for the acceptance of research papers was set too low. They also used circular citation. Finally, the BMJ explains why the Adult Clinic’s failure to cooperate with the enquiry is so unconscionable. https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q837
So who to blame?
This article names and shames the people in charge of the Adult Clinics. Worryingly one—Dr Derek Glidden has been put in charge of creating the new children’s holistic clinics. One would have thought there would have been great incentive for Glidden to cooperate, but apparently not. As a result, the NHS England are through playing around and have ordered an independent investigation into the Adult Clinics as well ordering them to start cooperating and releasing the requested data. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/11/top-nhs-adviser-trans-health-failed-cooperate-cass-review/ or https://archive.is/ezkFy
If you are interested in the letter the NHS sent, you can read it here:
https://twitter.com/SexMattersOrg/status/1778369480617234830
This is an article about the charities who promoted the treatment which Cass found to have weak or no evidence of benefit, often using that now discredited slogan – better a living daughter than a dead son. There is no evidence that transition benefits mental health in the way which was claimed and Prof Appleby who is in charge of suicide prevention has come out and said that such slogans should not be used for any mental health condition. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cass-report-gender-transition-mermaids-charities-web-kxp7fjcfj or https://archive.is/t4KYu
These are some of the doctors who presided over the scandal. One stated that a little girl’s interest in Thomas the Tank was enough to say that she should transition. This is stuff and nonsense. I loved trains and train sets when I was little – they allowed me to create stories and imaginary worlds where I could basically play God. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13291703/Meet-doctors-doled-puberty-blockers-generation-vulnerable-children.html
Julie Bindel nailed when she said that there needs to be consequences for the people enacted, furthered and then tried to cover up the medical scandal… https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/11/sack-those-who-conspired-against-children/ or https://archive.is/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/11/sack-those-who-conspired-against-children/
Speaking of dodgy data sets and circular reasoning, the Telegraph reports that the McKinsey findings about ethnic diversity being a major driver of business growth are not readily replicable. McKinsey refused to release their data sets to the researchers who then used data available from the S&P 500 to try to replicate the findings. The researchers failed. “In contrast to McKinsey’s results, the key finding of our study is that we observe no statistically significant difference between the likelihood of financial outperformance as measured by the industry-adjusted EBIT [earnings before interest and tax] margin of S&P 500 firms during the years 2015-2019 in the top versus bottom quartiles of S&P 500 firms ranked on McKinsey’s executive racial/ethnic diversity metric measured in mid-2020.” The conclusion is that more research needs to be done. This matters because McKinsey’s findings have been used by social justice advocates and companies alike to drive DEI as a business imperative. Correct me if I am wrong but wasn’t McKinsey involved in the rollout of OxyContin (paid out $513 million to settle) and didn’t someone from that project jump ship to the Trevor Project about the time the whole ‘trans kid’ thing started to get pushed… It could all be a terrible coincidence or there could be pattern of corner -cutting and an overreliance on dodgy data to obtain a first mover advantage. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/11/no-evidence-diverse-management-teams-boost-profits-says-stu/ or https://archive.is/tzea9
Police Scotland have apparently developed a script to deal with people attempting to make a complaint about Humza Yousaf under the new Hate Crime Act. Out of the over 7k complaints, 240 merited further investigation. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/11/call-handlers-given-script-defending-humza-yousaf/ or https://archive.is/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/11/call-handlers-given-script-defending-humza-yousaf/
A useful tip – if you are buying stamps in the UK, buy them from Royal Mail (aka the Post Office) rather than a shop as China has been flooding the country with counterfeit stamps. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/royal-mail-border-force-failing-stop-fake-stamps-china/ or https://archive.is/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/royal-mail-border-force-failing-stop-fake-stamps-china/
With all that is going in the world, sometimes it is a relief to read about an old fashioned drug cartel and how they launder money. The Sunday Times has done a good job in exposing how the Kinahan cartel (originally based out of Dublin) has used 3rd parties to get around US sanctions. They are now ‘washing’ their money through places like India and Zimbabwe and are engaged in things like helping Russia get the commodities it requires as well as cocaine smuggling, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/revealed-kinahan-cartel-launders-cash-sanctions-pmtm5mv26 or https://archive.is/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/revealed-kinahan-cartel-launders-cash-sanctions-pmtm5mv26
Jeremy Clarkson whose latest Clarkson’s Farm (Season 3) drops on 3 May on Prime has set his eyes on a Cotswold pub (most likely for series 4, although I suspect the rainy weather will play a part). Apparently the upcoming series has more of the Clarkson magic. The good part is that it does should difficult farming is and how bureaucracy can stifle. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jeremy-clarkson-pub-cotswolds-bourton-on-water-dk0072dbn or https://archive.is/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jeremy-clarkson-pub-cotswolds-bourton-on-water-dk0072dbn
New frescoes have been uncovered in Pompeii and they are completely stunning. Helen of Troy shows the Romans had a different beauty standard to other cultures, particularly where noses were concerned. But it is wonderful that they are uncovering more treasures from Pompeii https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13296073/Pompeiis-stunning-discovery-fresco-Helen-Troy.html
Here it has been raining on the just and the unjust all week. Paddy unfortunately decided to jump the back gate yesterday. Springers can spring. Luckily, I managed to get him back in reasonably short order, but it means I shall have to be far more careful. More walks and many more games so that he isn’t up to mischief. The alternative does not bear thinking about. The writing is going slowly but at least it is moving forward.
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And this is the commissioning letter from the NHS to Cass. They are going have a look at the cross sex hormones in the same way that they looked at puberty blockers.
"NHS England will review the use of gender affirming hormones through a process of updated evidence review and public consultation, similar to the rigorous process that was followed to review the use of puberty suppressing hormones. In the meantime, you have made clear that the new providers should be ‘extremely cautious’ when considering whether to refer young people under 18 years for consideration of hormone intervention. In order to support the providers in following your advice we have established a national multi-disciplinary team (MDT) that will review and need to agree all recommendations for hormone intervention, and we are pleased to confirm that Professor Judith Ellis has agreed to chair this MDT on an interim basis while a permanent chair is appointed. The first meeting of this new national MDT will take place later this month.
NHS England has already announced that it is bringing forward its review of the adult service specifications, and we have written to the Chief Executives of the organisations that host the GDCs to inform them that this will be undertaken in the context of a broader, systemic review of the operation and delivery of the GDCs. NHS England will provide more detail very soon, but we envisage it will be informed by the deployment of external quality improvement experts into the services. In view of your advice about the need for caution in the initiation of medical interventions for young people under 18 years of age, our letter instructs the adult gender clinics to implement a pause on offering first appointments to young people below their 18th birthday. This letter also makes clear that NHS England expects full cooperation from the GDCs in the delivery of the data linkage study, on which we have corresponded separately."
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/gender-dysphoria-clinical-programme/implementing-advice-from-the-cass-review/
I really hope all those doctors who ruined the lives of hundreds of children end up in prison. They need to answer for their crimes.
Thanks for the link to the newly discovered frescoes! How exciting. And my husband says women always approach him when he’s out with our dogs (at least when they were puppies and not so terrifying) so I’m laughing to myself imagining Paris employing the same strategy.
Your kitchen looks so cozy and quintessentially British with the weathered wooden table, terra cotta floor, and kitty on the table. Bad Paddy to jump the gate! Your Hercules looks just like my Koko (named for Koko Taylor, the blues singer). Have a marvelous weekend!