Well thank God for this at last and health nz needs to slide away into their own murk! Please make it quick! Thank you for a sparkle of light appearing on the horizon 🙏
Katrina, do you know what legal action could be undertaken in NZ against "gender-affirming" doctors?
I believe ACC makes it difficult to sue professionals for damages. I understand you can sue for "professional negligence" where you allege that a professional failed to meet the standard of care expected within their field, but the "standard of care" at the moment is probably set by the MoH guidelines. Also, the law favours conversion therapy and self-sex ID.
I'm not a lawyer and know nothing about the law in this area but I remember a Twitter conversation a few years ago in which Stephen Franks and other senior lawyers were discussing the possibility of legal action (from a theoretical standpoint).
They concluded there was no clear path for legal action — except maybe suing the Ministry of Health.
I wondered about that, too, Graham, but haven't questioned it at the moment. The letters may shed some light on that, when they're released. I was interested to note that Health NZ said they would help out with legal proceedings, as would a health practitioner's own professional indemnity insurer, and didn't just fob it off by saying the health practitioner was protected by ACC. This seems to indicate that even if ACC covers the harm to the person from puberty blockers, there is an element of what the health practitioner has done that may still be subject to litigation. It's not common in NZ, though, and if the letters don't shed any more light on this, I'll ask more questions.
Thanks, Katrina. It would be good to know. I assume at some point if there are more suits filed overseas by detransitioners — and more evidence emerges about the harms — the indemnity insurers may remove cover for any doctors treating gender dysphoria with puberty blockers etc.
It happened in Australia in 2023, with at least one big insurer dropping cover for doctors who initiate hormone treatment in adolescents.
That’s a good point, Graham, and it may revolve around that, although Health NZ does refer to a medical practitioner’s own indemnity insurer helping them with legal costs,
so at the moment it doesn’t seem that insurers are pulling the plug on that. Inflection Point and Stephen Franks have clearly found something for Health NZ and the letter recipients to worry about, though :-)
Do we know of any patients who have detransitioned in NZ ? I know of the UK cases and USA they have come out in public and have high profiles, but I’m not aware of any here. I guess the patient can try and lodge a claim with ACC for medical harm, or would be interesting to see how if and when these cases come to light .
I think I've heard of at least one case of a detransitioner here, but Let Kids be Kids would probably know more. The effects of prescribing puberty blockers may not be considered medical harm, and come under ACC, which could be why litigation is a possibility.
This is encouraging indeed, although I still can't believe how quickly doctors and public health authorities 'forgot' their training and oath to not cause harm, and reamin wary of them as a result. I can only recall the one doctor, retired or nearly retired, publishing a letter of concern about puberty blocker prescription in this country and on behalf of her colleagues who were concerned too but felt their jobs were at risk if they spoke up. That was in the Listener a while back. I don't trust that publication on this subject anymore. Hopefully this warning shot gives these and other doctors the confidence to speak up.
It is indeed a concern how quickly medical professionals fell to gender ideology. Prising that out of their minds and practice will be a herculean, if not nigh on impossible, task. It will either take a whole new generation of non-believers in gender ideology to remove it from practice, or credible threats of dire consequences if they do. The latter is not desirable, but, unfortunately, sometimes people only respond to a heavy hand.
Yes, we know the problem, but how to fix it is a whole other thing. I know of a doctor who moved to NZ from the US to save his kids from the trans social contagion over there, only to find we were no better here. So he went back. I have fantasies about convincing the NZ Labour party that going full TERF with a nationwide apology to the women and children who were harmed by their strong advocacy for this corrupt cause and commitment to remove support for this ideology from our schools and medical practice. And because this courageous admission of error and turnaround on their part is so rare in politics they sail into power at the next election and that convinces all other Left political parties across the world to do the same. But I somehow don't think this will happen and some kind of 'heavy hand' of threats, as you say, will be required instead.
Greatly appreciate your work and words.
Well thank God for this at last and health nz needs to slide away into their own murk! Please make it quick! Thank you for a sparkle of light appearing on the horizon 🙏
Bravo & brava!
I eagerly await the publication of the letters, as a template for GCs in other countries to follow.
Hope they’re relevant outside of NZ 🤞
Thanks, Katrina and well done Inflection Point doing the work the government should be doing!!!
Have cross posted
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/mildred-pierce-part-2
Dusty
Katrina, do you know what legal action could be undertaken in NZ against "gender-affirming" doctors?
I believe ACC makes it difficult to sue professionals for damages. I understand you can sue for "professional negligence" where you allege that a professional failed to meet the standard of care expected within their field, but the "standard of care" at the moment is probably set by the MoH guidelines. Also, the law favours conversion therapy and self-sex ID.
I'm not a lawyer and know nothing about the law in this area but I remember a Twitter conversation a few years ago in which Stephen Franks and other senior lawyers were discussing the possibility of legal action (from a theoretical standpoint).
They concluded there was no clear path for legal action — except maybe suing the Ministry of Health.
I wondered about that, too, Graham, but haven't questioned it at the moment. The letters may shed some light on that, when they're released. I was interested to note that Health NZ said they would help out with legal proceedings, as would a health practitioner's own professional indemnity insurer, and didn't just fob it off by saying the health practitioner was protected by ACC. This seems to indicate that even if ACC covers the harm to the person from puberty blockers, there is an element of what the health practitioner has done that may still be subject to litigation. It's not common in NZ, though, and if the letters don't shed any more light on this, I'll ask more questions.
Thanks, Katrina. It would be good to know. I assume at some point if there are more suits filed overseas by detransitioners — and more evidence emerges about the harms — the indemnity insurers may remove cover for any doctors treating gender dysphoria with puberty blockers etc.
It happened in Australia in 2023, with at least one big insurer dropping cover for doctors who initiate hormone treatment in adolescents.
abc.net.au/news/2023-07-13/qld-medical-insurer-drops-cover-private-doctors-gender-dysphoria/102592298
That’s a good point, Graham, and it may revolve around that, although Health NZ does refer to a medical practitioner’s own indemnity insurer helping them with legal costs,
so at the moment it doesn’t seem that insurers are pulling the plug on that. Inflection Point and Stephen Franks have clearly found something for Health NZ and the letter recipients to worry about, though :-)
Do we know of any patients who have detransitioned in NZ ? I know of the UK cases and USA they have come out in public and have high profiles, but I’m not aware of any here. I guess the patient can try and lodge a claim with ACC for medical harm, or would be interesting to see how if and when these cases come to light .
I think I've heard of at least one case of a detransitioner here, but Let Kids be Kids would probably know more. The effects of prescribing puberty blockers may not be considered medical harm, and come under ACC, which could be why litigation is a possibility.
Great work, Katrina! May your feet grow bigger and may God Bless you even more!
This is encouraging indeed, although I still can't believe how quickly doctors and public health authorities 'forgot' their training and oath to not cause harm, and reamin wary of them as a result. I can only recall the one doctor, retired or nearly retired, publishing a letter of concern about puberty blocker prescription in this country and on behalf of her colleagues who were concerned too but felt their jobs were at risk if they spoke up. That was in the Listener a while back. I don't trust that publication on this subject anymore. Hopefully this warning shot gives these and other doctors the confidence to speak up.
It is indeed a concern how quickly medical professionals fell to gender ideology. Prising that out of their minds and practice will be a herculean, if not nigh on impossible, task. It will either take a whole new generation of non-believers in gender ideology to remove it from practice, or credible threats of dire consequences if they do. The latter is not desirable, but, unfortunately, sometimes people only respond to a heavy hand.
Yes, we know the problem, but how to fix it is a whole other thing. I know of a doctor who moved to NZ from the US to save his kids from the trans social contagion over there, only to find we were no better here. So he went back. I have fantasies about convincing the NZ Labour party that going full TERF with a nationwide apology to the women and children who were harmed by their strong advocacy for this corrupt cause and commitment to remove support for this ideology from our schools and medical practice. And because this courageous admission of error and turnaround on their part is so rare in politics they sail into power at the next election and that convinces all other Left political parties across the world to do the same. But I somehow don't think this will happen and some kind of 'heavy hand' of threats, as you say, will be required instead.