Rep. Dan Crenshaw grills witness over failure to name study citing benefits of trans surgeriesBy Kyle Morris, Fox News
June 15, 2023
Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw tore into a Democrat witness Wednesday over her inability to cite a medical study that states the benefits of transgender surgeries for minors.
Crenshaw’s comments came during a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing when he questioned Yale School of Medicine assistant professor Meredithe McNamara about his proposal to withdraw funding from certain hospitals that provide surgeries, puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to transgender minors.
“You’ve said that we cherry-picked data. How do you mean that?” Crenshaw asked McNamara.
“So, it is very unscientific and flawed to pick a single study or a single statistic and discuss it in isolation,” she responded. “Medical experts are able to talk about all of the evidence as a whole.”
“Totally agree,” the Texas congressman told McNamara. “It’s good to look at systematic reviews, right? That’s the gold standard of evidence when you’re trying to understand whether something works or it doesn’t. The British Journal of Medicine looked at 61 systematic reviews with the conclusion that, quote, ‘There is great uncertainty about the effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries in young people.’ The Journal of the Endocrine Society came up with the same conclusion, even the American Academy of Pediatrics. They all cite the lack of evidence.”
* * *
“Which journal says something different? We should have that debate. Tell me a journal that has done systematic reviews that cites different evidence, that cites strong evidence of benefits for these therapies,” he said.
McNamara responded, “The standards of care were developed based on extensive—”
“You’re not telling me any study, don’t say ‘standards of care,'” Crenshaw interjected. “Tell me one.”
“So, um, the standards of care,” McNamara said.
“The standards of care,” Crenshaw questioned. “That’s not a journal, that’s not a study. That’s not an organization. That’s not an institution. You’re just saying words. Name one study.”
McNamara failed to name a specific study prior to Crenshaw’s time expiring.
* * *
Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/crenshaw-grills-witness-over-inability-to-cite-benefits-of-trans-surgeries/