Former employee of St. Louis transgender clinic reaffirms allegations of misconduct

The former case manager whose allegations against a St. Louis transgender clinic spurred an inquiry by the attorney general says she stands behind her claims despite an internal investigation by her former employer concluding they are unsubstantiated. 

Last week, Washington University released the findings of its investigation into allegations of misconduct made by Jamie Reed, who worked as a case manager for the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital for four years. 

Among the claims made by Reed were that the center gave a majority of children cross-sex hormones and issued prescriptions prior to treating mental health.

The university concluded Reed’s allegations did not hold up. 

In response, Reed released a pair of statements through her attorneys over the weekend raising doubts about the university’s conclusions and calling into question its standard of care. 

Reed says the numbers cited by the university don’t match what she has calculated in regards to the percentage of minors who received puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. She also said she was never interviewed by the university during the inquiry and that the center justified its policies through its alignment with an “advocacy organization.”

Washington University inquiry found allegations against Transgender Center ‘unsubstantiated’

Washington University, which oversees the Transgender Center, said last week that the center has cared for 1,165 patients since 2018. Reed says she has compiled and kept “detailed data sets” from Feb. 1, 2020, until May 1, 2022, that show 1,315 patients had phone calls or visits with the center.

Of those in Reed’s data, she says 1,138 patients were seen at the center, and 613 received medication. She said 67% of those who saw doctors who prescribe medication received it.

Washington University said it would make changes as a result of its internal investigation, including requiring written parental consent prior to prescribing gender-affirming medications. It also is now asking for custody agreements prior to a minor’s first visit. Previously, it required them before prescribing medicine “in cases where decision-making authority was in question.”

Reed argues that these changes “acknowledges the validity” of several of her allegations.

She also critiques the standards of care set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which Washington University says it aligns with. WPATH’s standard of care is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs.

Reed says WPATH is “an advocacy organization whose publications rely very little on the emerging international evidence and much more on the idea that trans health care is about the right to embodiment of cosmetic goals on demand.”

WPATH says its latest standards of care comes “on the best available science with input from over 100 global medical professionals and experts and represents best-practice guidelines for the provision of gender-affirming healthcare.”

Reed’s attorneys Vernadette Broyles, founder and general counsel of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, and Ernie Trakas, senior litigation counsel for the campaign and St. Louis County council member, oppose “gender identity ideology,” according to the firm’s website. Broyles is representing a case in Florida that has been used to support legislation banning the discussion of gender identity and sexuality in classrooms.

Washington University stands by its conclusions, its spokeswoman, Julie Hail Flory, said in a statement to The Independent.