Children’s Gender Clinic Founder was a Consultant for Puberty Blocker Manufacturers

The co-founder and director of a clinic that aids in children’s sex change attempts, Dr. Stephen Rosenthal, has received money as a consultant from two pharmaceutical companies that are both under investigation for advertising puberty blockers.

Rosenthal is the cofounder and medical director of the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Gender Center.

He received $38,704 from pharmaceutical companies between the years of 2015 and 2021, more than 98% of United States endocrinologists did, according to a report from Care Dash, a site that uses public records to track the money that doctors have received as compensation from pharmaceutical companies. 

Of that sum, $16,765 came from Endo Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie; payments were linked directly to their products Supprelin LA and Lupron, which are both used off-label as puberty blockers for children who are attempting to change their sex. Public records reveal that Rosenthal has accepted consulting fees from both AbbVie and Endo Pharmaceuticals.

In 2018, Rosenthal received the third highest amount of any doctor in America in compensation related to Supprelin LA, ProPublica reported.

Rosenthal is also affiliated with the Endocrine Society and was previously the President of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, which Breitbart News reported received over $125,000 from AbbVie between 2017 and 2021. The Pediatric Endocrine Society has promoted both Supprelin LA and Lupron.

He’s also been a vocal advocate for a medical approach that he refers to as “gender-affirming care,” which consists of aiding children in their attempts to change their sex.

Both Endo Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie are 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.”

The FDA recently warned that both Lupron, produced by AbbVie, and Supprelin LA, produced by Endo Pharmaceuticals, may cause brain swelling and permanent vision loss. 

Lupron can cost nearly $2,000 for only a one-month supply, and the drug has been used to chemically castrate sex offenders.

The University of California Benioff Children’s Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Gender Center “offers comprehensive medical and psychological care, as well as advocacy and legal support, to transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive kids,” according to its description. The center sees patients as young as three years old and offers both puberty blockers and the administration of cross-sex hormone treatment. 

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,” ProPublica noted.

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.”

Breitbart News reported that Dr. Jeremi Carswell, the director of the Boston Children’s Hospital gender services division, has also received compensation from Endo Pharmaceuticals. 

Endo Pharmaceuticals is currently on the verge of filing bankruptcy and is embroiled in thousands of lawsuits relating to the opioid epidemic.

Neither Dr. Stephen M. Rosenthal nor the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Gender Center responded to requests for comment.

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com