The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) describes its annual gathering as the “leading education conference” in its field. That makes the society’s commitment to leftist race and gender orthodoxies all the more troubling.
Scheduled for May 11–14, 2027, ASPHO’s next conference will feature “educational/scientific workshops” comprising “interactive, problem-solving discussions, debates, or cases.”
Conference organizers urge workshop proposers to “seek speakers from a diverse group of faculty,” considering not only the “institution size” and “career level” of prospective panelists but their “gender” and “race/ethnicity,” as well.
Although this policy represents a lamentable emphasis on identity categories rather than scientific merit, it is par for the course given the woke-era politicization of medicine. What is less predictable — and at least as troubling — is the “previously accepted, well-received workshop proposal” offered as a sample to attendees.
That proposal, titled “Hematology Consults in Transgender Medicine,” notes that many of the “10% of high school students [who] identify as gender non-congruent … are transgender,” a state of affairs that leads “to an increased use of medications with potentially serious hematologic adverse effects (thrombosis, erythrocytosis, etc.).”
According to the proposal, hematologists “are being asked to provide consultation to the transgender community regarding critical management questions” and should know “how to mitigate the risks of such treatments.”
This is precisely the opposite of how medical care should work. Yes, practitioners should be aware of the side-effects of the interventions they propose, but “risk mitigation” makes no sense given the very low certainty that pediatric transgender medicine offers meaningful psychological or quality-of-life benefits at all.
If, as a 2021 medical study showed, “data indicat[e] higher rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and ischemic stroke (IS) among [biologically male] participants receiving [hormone therapy],” then that is an argument against prescribing estrogen to high-school boys. It is not an argument for “mitigat[ing] the risks” of such “treatment.”
Similarly, if, as another 2021 medical study found, “[e]rythrocytosis occurs in trans men using testosterone,” then the role of physicians should be to prevent that outcome in children, not to manage it.
Sadly, ASPHO’s sample proposal is more concerned with “appropriate terminology” than with preventing harm to gender-dysphoric children and adolescents in the first place. Of the proposal’s three “learning outcomes,” two concern the language used by hematologists (e.g., “the new gender-neutral hemophilia nomenclature”).
These confused values are as unsurprising as they are disappointing.
According to the organization’s “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at ASPHO” page, DEI is “infused into the Society” through a diversity advisory group and regular diversity-themed webinars and “eNews” statements.
The same page offers a link to the debunked “Implicit Association Test” beloved by activist progressives.
Even an entirely legitimate and beneficial medical pursuit is framed using “antiracist” terminology: “We Must Support Black Lives to Improve Sickle Cell Disease Care.”
In short, ASPHO’s medical expertise appears increasingly to be giving way to leftist ideology. That is bad news for pediatric hematology/oncology patients, as well as for the broader medical and scientific establishments.
Like all Americans, physicians have every right to their individual political beliefs. When entire medical societies allow politics to corrupt their work, however, we are all in trouble.
