Rubio Demands NIH Investigation After Dr. Delays Puberty Blockers Study

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has sent a letter to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli regarding a study on the effects of puberty blockers on children. The research was funded by the NIH but was not released after years of studies.

According to Sen. Rubio, those who conducted the research are “concerned their findings would justify puberty blocker bans for minors” and described the failure to release the findings as a “gross misuse of taxpayer funds.”

The Florida senator is calling on Director Bertagnolli to investigate whether the results were purposely withheld or manipulated.

“I write with regard to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) funding of Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy’s study on the effects of exposing children to puberty blockers,” Sen. Rubio’s letter begins. “More than nine years after the Obama Administration supported this study, researchers have yet to release their findings, and have reportedly refused to do so because they are concerned about the political ramifications of their findings. It is not Dr. Olson-Kennedy’s place to make this decision, but rather the American people, who funded this study, and their elected representatives.”

Moreover, Rubio called out Dr. Olson-Kennedy for using the $5.7 million in taxpayer dollars awarded to NIH without providing the results, especially as she reported in 2020 that a quarter of the children in the study were “experiencing suicidal ideation or depression symptoms.” She stated that the delay is due to the notion that the findings could yield – in her eyes – negative ramifications.

“Though Dr. Olson-Kennedy has claimed that she intends to publish the data, she has delayed doing so because, according to her, she fears the findings will be used to show that puberty blockers do not improve the mental health of youth. Commonsense Americans already understand this and are rightly outraged that these drugs are being used on children, some as young as 11 years old,” said Rubio. “The fact that Dr. Olson-Kennedy is hiding the results of her publicly-funded research, because of her political bias, is outrageous and unacceptable.”

Rubio combated the idea that Dr. Olson-Kennedy’s work has been truly “observational.”

“[H]undreds of children were exposed to harmful chemicals through this $5.7 million grant, and Americans deserve to know the full implications of the project their tax dollars paid for…. The NIH must investigate this group of researchers to assess whether they are intentionally withholding information from the public about the truth of using puberty blockers on youth, and prevent them from receiving future federal funding,” concluded Rubio.

The Florida senator requested answers to the following questions.

1. As Dr. Olson-Kennedy has provided conflicting information, please clarify the mental state of the children included in the study prior to receiving puberty blockers.
2. Does the NIH take political bias on research questions into consideration when awarding grant funding to researchers?
3. How is the NIH ensuring that bias and/or manipulation of data does not occur in federally funded research?
4. Did researchers in this study comply with the NIH’s requirement to annually submit their progress to the NIH?
5. When will the researchers submit the final conclusions of their study and make the data public?

Rubio urged a “prompt response” from Director Bertagnolli.