About time: The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has removed a statement from a guide on transgender health that puberty blockers are a “reversible intervention”. The drugs are used to delay puberty in children diagnosed with gender identity disorder.

The controversial claim had been made by the professional body for GPs in Ireland but was contrary to the findings of the UK court judgment in the case of Keira Bell. This concluded that there are questions over the long-term effects of puberty blockers, which were described as an “experimental” treatment.

The ICGP guide to providing care for transgender patients, written by Dr Des Crowley and Vanessa Lacey, also stated that oestrogen and testosterone therapy were “partially reversible interventions”. Crowley is an assistant director of the ICGP addiction management programme, while Lacey is health and education manager with Transgender Equality Network Ireland (Teni), a group that lobbies for transgender rights.

The guide noted that adolescents can be prescribed puberty blockers at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, formerly Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital. “This treatment prevents sex steroid hormone release from gonadal tissue and its effect is reversible on discontinuing the treatment,” it stated.

Last week the guide was removed from the ICGP website and later republished with a series of amendments. It now omits any reference to the use of puberty blockers being reversible, and no longer says that oestrogen and testosterone therapy are “partially reversible”.

This weekend the ICGP said it was “normal practice” for guides to be updated.

The revised guide says there is “limited research evidence available regarding the long-term effects of hormone and puberty blockers in children and adolescents”. It points out that a review by researchers in Australia concluded there was “low-quality evidence” that “hormonal treatments for transgender adolescents can achieve their intended physical effects, but evidence regarding their psychosocial and cognitive impact is generally lacking”.

It added that for transgender children, “medical interventions such as hormonal or surgical interventions are not indicated”.