PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ashley, Florence
TI  - Gatekeeping hormone replacement therapy for transgender patients is dehumanising
AID  - 10.1136/medethics-2018-105293
DP  - 2019 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 480--482
VI  - 45
IP  - 7
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/45/7/480.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/45/7/480.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2019 Jul 01; 45
AB  - Although informed consent models for prescribing hormone replacement therapy are becoming increasingly prevalent, many physicians continue to require an assessment and referral letter from a mental health professional prior to prescription. Drawing on personal and communal experience, the author argues that assessment and referral requirements are dehumanising and unethical, foregrounding the ways in which these requirements evidence a mistrust of trans people, suppress the diversity of their experiences and sustain an unjustified double standard in contrast to other forms of clinical care. Physicians should abandon this unethical requirement in favour of an informed consent approach to transgender care.