Cass already stopped routine NHS puberty blockers. PATHWAYS is the research exception. On 20 February 2026 even that exception hit the brakes.
The Department of Health and Social Care: preliminary work establishing the PATHWAYS trial “has been paused, following new concerns raised by” the MHRA. Discussions with the sponsor, King’s College London, would follow. “The trial will not start to recruit until issues raised by MHRA have been resolved.” DHSC: the concerns were “directly related to the wellbeing of children and young people.” The trial would go ahead only if expert scientific and clinical advice concluded it was “both safe and necessary.”
MHRA, same day: it had raised concerns related to participant wellbeing and would hold scientific dialogue with the sponsor. Highest scrutiny, it said, because of the age of the children and young people who may be involved.
A pause is not a cancellation. It is also not a green light. Experimenting on kids in a trial is still experimenting. The progress remains the ban on routine use.
- united kingdom
- pathways