Endo Pharmaceuticals, the producer of a puberty blocker, gave money to the director of the Boston Children’s Hospital gender services division, which aids children’s sex change attempts.
Dr. Jeremi Carswell is the Director of the Gender Multispeciality Service at the Boston Children’s Hospital and has received financial compensation from Endo Pharmaceuticals, the producer of the puberty blocking drug.
A statement from Kevin Churchwell, the CEO of Boston Children’s Hospital, notes that the hospital is “home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States.” The statement also says, “We believe in a gender-affirmative model of care, which supports transgender and gender diverse youth in the gender in which they identify.”
Additionally, the statement explains that the hospital opposes legislation that would prohibit men from competing with women in sports, or that would prevent children who identify as transgender from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or other medical interventions framed as “gender-affirmative” care.
The hospital’s website also boasts that “GeMS was the first major program in the U.S. to focus on gender-diverse and transgender adolescents. Since that time, we have expanded our program to welcome patients from ages 3 to 25.” Carswell is the director of GeMS.
Open Payments data collected by the federal government in accordance with the Affordable Care Act reveals that Carswell received $3,055 from Endo Pharmaceuticals in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available.
Of that $3,055, Carswell received $2,110 from the company for a “consulting fee.” The government data lists Supprelin LA as an “associated product,” indicating that Carswell’s consulting pertained to the drug. Supprelin LA is commonly used as a puberty blocker, which the FDA considers an off-label use.
A report from ProPublica found that doctors prescribe a drug more often when they have received payments from pharmaceutical companies, particularly when those payments are related to the specific drug.
“Doctors who receive money from drugmakers related to a specific drug prescribe that drug more heavily than doctors without such financial ties,” according to the report.
The report specifically found that “on average, across all drugs, providers who received payments specifically tied to a drug prescribed it 58% more than providers who did not receive payments.”
An article cowritten by Carswell titled “Pubertal suppression for transgender youth and risk of suicidal ideation” had to be corrected after it claimed the authors had no potentially conflicting interests. The article was corrected to note that Carswell “has received an advisory board stipend from Endo Pharmaceuticals.”
In a different article titled “Addressing Legislation That Restricts Access To Care For Transgender Youth,” the conflict of interest statement notes that “Dr. Carswell previously served as a consultant to Endo Pharmaceuticals in June 2018.”
A blog post from the Boston Children’s Hospital notes that they do offer puberty blockers to children as part of their “gender-affirming” model of care. The hospital is associated with Harvard University.
While the Boston Children’s Hospital does not specify which drugs they use for puberty blockers, a “Pediatric Endocrinology Fact Sheet” from the Pediatric Endocrinology Society (PES) lists both Lupron, a puberty blocking drug from AbbVie, and Endo Pharmaceuticals’ Supprelin LA as treatment options.
Breitbart previously found that PES has received over $125K from AbbVie between the years of 2017 and 2021.
In addition to providing puberty blockers, the children’s hospital also has a Center for Gender Surgery, which offers breast augmentation, phalloplasty, vaginoplasty, and surgeries that modify facial features.
Endo Pharmaceuticals, along with AbbVie, is currently under investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The two companies allegedly promoted and advertised puberty blockers “for unapproved uses without disclosing the potential risks associated with these drugs to children and their parents.”
Endo Pharmaceuticals is currently $8 billion in debt and is considering filing for bankruptcy. The company is also embroiled in thousands of lawsuits concerning its role in the opioid epidemic.
Neither the Boston Children’s Hospital or Dr. Jeremi Carswell responded to a request for comment.
Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com
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