News release

From: New Zealand Medical Journal

This paper looks at how the New Zealand Government introduced its 2025 ban on starting puberty blockers for transgender young people under 18. Puberty blockers are medicines that pause the physical changes of puberty, and “off-label” prescribing means using an approved medicine for a purpose not specifically listed on its official approval, which is common in children’s medicine (and in New Zealand generally, due to the “small market” problem). We argue that the Government treated uncertainty about these medicines differently from uncertainty in other areas of paediatric care and medicine, where doctors usually respond by using tighter supervision, clearer clinical rules and better monitoring, rather than an outright ban. The paper concludes that if the real concern was limited evidence, a fairer and more proportionate response would have been stricter oversight, national monitoring and clear review points, instead of prohibiting new treatment by regulation.