Veteran pediatrician hails Medicaid shift ending youth sex-change treatments: 'This is not denial of care'

The sweeping policy shift announced Tuesday to end Medicaid funding for youth sex-change treatments is being hailed by at least one veteran pediatrician, who argued that the procedures were never "compassionate" approaches for children facing .

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Quentin Van Meter, the immediate past president of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), reflected on the new restrictions issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

"I'm really congratulating HHS and CMS for... taking the step to block the medical and surgical interventions or funding for those in those healthcare systems... primarily because it's not an appropriate kind of intervention," Van Meter said.

Despite claims that children will be left to suffer under the policy change, Van Meter, a pediatric endocrinologist, asserted that government intervention is not meant to strip them of the care they need, arguing instead for ongoing mental health treatment to address the underlying issues driving their distress.

MEDICAID ENDS FUNDING FOR CHILD SEX-CHANGE PROCEDURES AS TRUMP ADMIN SLAMS 'EXPERIMENTAL' TREATMENTS

"This is not denial of care. This is not lack of compassion. This is not denial that these patients exist, as we are told that we are doing this," he added. "This is actually very compassionate, very appropriate, and has been scientifically proven to be of benefit to these children."

Van Meter, who has 42 years of experience in the field dating back to his fellowship at Johns Hopkins in the late 1970s, further argued that "puberty is not a disease" and that interventions intended to alter its course under sex-change procedures can instead exacerbate the mental health problems children are facing.

Tuesdays policy shift also comes against the backdrop of what Van Meter described as a collapsing medical framework behind the youth transgender movement, citing mounting evidence and a series of disturbing findings.

This includes a federally funded study researchers allegedly tried to bury after multiple transitioning children reportedly died by suicide, federal allegations challenging a prominent transgender medical authority, the shocking rise in potentially thousands of detransitioners, and the irreversible damage caused by sex changes, including sterilization.

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One of the examples Van Meter pointed to dates back to 2015, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded a five-year study to examine the outcomes of sex-change hormones in children. By the second year, three participants had died by suicide.

Not only did researchers fail to immediately halt the study after the first death, they also attempted to bury the results by refusing to publish the data, according to Van Meter. The studys chief investigators reportedly had a significant conflict of interest, having been "very proactive in the transgender arena" and often asserting that "these treatments are very beneficial and should be continued."

The multimillion-dollar study, titled "The Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth," wa