Gender Affirming Care: Fall of the House of Hopkins

The Carlat Psychiatry Podcast

Alternative Health, Mental Health, Medicine, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 524 Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1966, Johns Hopkins opened the first gender surgery clinic in the US. Thirteen years later, a single study shut it down. We examine what the research said, what it didn't say, and how new standards of care emerged from the ashes.

CME: Take the CME Post-Test for this Episode

Published On: 05/18/2026

Duration: 13 minutes, 39 seconds

Chris Aiken, MD, and Kellie Newsome, PMHNP, have disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Before the modern era of gender-affirming care, similar clinics flourished in the 1970s under the leadership of Johns Hopkins.
0:08.4	Today, we look at what brought them down.
0:14.9	Welcome to the Carlet Psychiatry Podcast, keeping psychiatry honest since 2003.
0:20.7	I'm Chrisaken, the editor-in-chief of the Carlet Psychiatry Report.
0:24.8	And I'm Kelly Newsom, a psychiatric MP and a dedicated reader of every issue.
0:31.7	Let's start with a preview of the CME quiz.
0:34.6	You'll find the full quiz in the show notes and the answer at the end of the podcast.
0:39.5	Which medication reduced methamphetamine use in a large phase three trial?
0:44.9	A.
0:45.6	Adamoxetine.
0:47.3	B, methylphenidate.
0:49.6	C, lithium.
0:51.1	D.
0:51.5	Murtazapine.
1:02.2	Music lithium, D. Mertazapine. Last week, we covered a controversial study that found little change in children's mental
1:07.1	health after taking puberty suppressing hormones for gender dysphoria.
1:12.1	The author of this study worried that the results would be weaponized against patients,
1:17.3	but as I read this study, I wondered what Dr. Olson Kennedy was afraid of.
1:22.2	Negative studies are common in psychiatry, and one study is not going to rock the boat
1:27.3	when there are dozens to pool together in a systematic review.
1:31.3	And anyway, no one expects gender transition to cure all mental woes, simply resolving the gender dysphoria ought to be enough.
1:39.3	But I was wrong. Gender dysphoria isn't like other psychiatric conditions where we carefully weigh the accumulating evidence.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Carlat Psychiatry Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Carlat Psychiatry Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.