Senate Republicans plan to launch inquiry into unpublished NIH study on puberty blockers

Republicans in the Senate plan to launch an inquiry into an unpublished study conducted by the National Institutes of Health about puberty blockers. 

In October, it was reported that the NIH withheld data by choosing not to publish a study about long term effects of puberty blockers, according to The Hill.

The House has probed the NIH for this study in the past.

The House Oversight Committee opened an investigation of NIH last month after a federally funded researcher admitted she sat on undesirable results for nine years from a two-year study of puberty blockers' effects on adolescents' mental health, for political reasons. The grant recipient's fear was that the findings would be “weaponized” by opponents of "transitional care for minors," according to the outlet.  

Six GOP senators sent a letter to NIH director Monica Bertagnolli requesting more information.

“To be clear, we oppose taxpayer funding going toward gender transition interventions for minors,” the letter states, according to The Hill. “Further, taxpayers have the right to know the outcomes of the research they fund, particularly when the intervention studied has life-altering impacts.”