Editorials

4 October 2022

A Cautionary Tale: The Doomed Gender Identity Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital

Authors: Alex S. Keuroghlian, MD, MPH https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6624-8354, and Asa E. Radix, MD, PhD https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9611-4181Author, Article, & Disclosure Information

Publication: Annals of Internal Medicine

Volume 175, Number 10

https://doi.org/10.7326/M22-2636

Magrath's article (1) documents the institutional circumstances culminating in the eventual closure of the Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) at Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) in 1979. His investigation included a review of archival letters, handwritten notes, meeting minutes, press releases, newspaper stories, and scientific articles from more than 5 decades. The article corrects long-standing, entrenched narratives that claimed that the GIC was shuttered because of objective scientific evidence, austerity measures, sensible risk aversion, or lone actors.

Magrath presents a sobering reflection on the history of gender-affirming surgeries. He also presents a reminder that transphobia and reactionary politics continue to negatively …

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References

1.

Magrath WJ. The fall of the nation's first gender-affirming surgery clinic. Ann Intern Med. 2022;175:1462-7. doi: 10.7326/M22-1480

2.

Almazan AN, Keuroghlian AS. Association between gender-affirming surgeries and mental health outcomes. JAMA Surg. 2021;156:611-8. [PMID: 33909023] doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2021.0952

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Agochukwu-Mmonu N, Radix A, Zhao L, et al. Patient reported outcomes in genital gender-affirming surgery: the time is now. J Patient Rep Outcomes. 2022;6:39. doi: 10.1186/s41687-022-00446-x

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Warling A, Keuroghlian AS. Clinician-level implications of bans on gender-affirming medical care for youth in the US. JAMA Pediatr. 2022. [PMID: 35939318] doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2771

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McDowell MJ, Goldhammer H, Potter JE, et al. Strategies to mitigate clinician implicit bias against sexual and gender minority patients. Psychosomatics. 2020 Nov-Dec;61:655-61. [PMID: 32641233] doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2020.04.021

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Liu M, Sandhu S, Keuroghlian AS. Achieving the triple aim for sexual and gender minorities. N Engl J Med. 2022;387:294-7. [PMID: 35866741] doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2204569

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Annals of Internal Medicine

Annals of Internal Medicine

Volume 175 • Number 10 • October 2022

Pages: 1483 - 1484

History

Published online: 4 October 2022

Published in issue: October 2022

Keywords

Copyright

© 2022 American College of Physicians.

Authors

Affiliations

Alex S. Keuroghlian, MD, MPH https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6624-8354

The Fenway Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

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Asa E. Radix, MD, PhD https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9611-4181

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York

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Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M22-2636.

Corresponding Author: Alex S. Keuroghlian, MD, MPH; e-mail, [email protected].

This article was published at Annals.org on 4 October 2022.

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Alex S. Keuroghlian, Asa E. Radix. A Cautionary Tale: The Doomed Gender Identity Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Ann Intern Med.2022;175:1483-1484. [Epub 4 October 2022]. doi:10.7326/M22-2636

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