Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

April 2021 – The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) has issued corrections to its coverage of the October 2019 Branstrom Study, which claimed that “gender-affirming surgery” reduces the need for mental health treatment.

Andre Van Mol, M.D., and co-authors called the errant study “fad medicine” that does a disservice to patients. Van Mol co-chairs the American College of Pediatricians Committee on Adolescent Sexuality and is a spokesman for Christian Medical and Dental Associations. Van Mol led a team who analyzed the Branstrom Study and questioned its legitimacy.

One major shortcoming cited is that its conclusions cannot be reproduced, a long-accepted measure for valid science. Van Mol’s team also found questionable use of data and subjects in the study.

Finally, the team revealed that Branstrom ignored available data on relevant critical issues such as completed suicides, hospitalizations, prescriptions, health care visits, and other gender-affirming treatments of subjects studied.

AJP has now admitted that “the data showed no improvement [in mental health] after surgical transgender surgery.”

thepublicdiscourse.com, 9/20