Episode 27 - Dr. Gideon Meyerowitz Katz - Can Data Settle the Debate on Pediatric Gender Medicine?

In this episode of Agree to Disagree About Gender, I speak with epidemiologist Dr. Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, also known as Health Nerd, about pediatric gender medicine, medical transition for young people with gender dysphoria, and what the evidence can and cannot tell us. The quality of evidence around pediatric medical transition remains highly contested. Some argue that the existing research is too weak to determine whether these interventions improve outcomes for young people, make outcomes worse for some, or help certain groups while harming others. Others argue that continued access is necessary despite uncertainty, especially given the distress experienced by many adolescents with gender dysphoria. Dr. Meyerowitz-Katz is an epidemiologist and science communicator who writes about evidence, public health, and how to interpret data. His Substack, Health Nerd, has more than 33,000 subscribers, and he has written extensively about pediatric gender medicine, including arguments in favour of continued access to care despite the limitations of the current evidence base. In this conversation, we discuss: • Why the evidence base for pediatric medical transition is so difficult to interpret • What randomized trials, observational studies, and systematic reviews can and cannot answer • Whether better data could resolve the debate • How researchers should think about benefit, harm, regret, and uncertainty • Why pediatric gender medicine has become so politically polarized • Why data alone often fails to persuade people on either side of the issue This is a conversation about evidence, uncertainty, values, and the limits of epidemiology in one of the most contested areas of medicine. Guest: Dr. Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz / Health Nerd Show: Agree to Disagree About Gender #PediatricGenderMedicine #GenderDysphoria #MedicalTransition #HealthNerd #Epidemiology #GenderMedicine #EvidenceBasedMedicine #AgreeToDisagreeAboutGender