The two Democratic Senators from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, have released a letter to Biden administration officials asking them to make it easier for trans and nonbinary people to access testosterone.
Testosterone is currently classified as a Schedule III controlled substance. The letter explains that in 1990, it was added to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 due to concerns it was being used as a steroid by athletes. Its classification has made it difficult for trans and nonbinary people to obtain it because it is “subject to restrictions on the length, quantity, and method of prescription.”
The senators are asking the Biden administration to change it to a Schedule V controlled substance, which would allow for fewer restrictions, or else deschedule it all together.
“Testosterone’s Schedule III status adds barriers to medically necessary, gender-affirming care while leaving transgender people vulnerable to harassment, discrimination, and surveillance,” states the letter, which is addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Anne Milgram, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
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“Gender-affirming hormone therapy is safe, effective, medically necessary, and critical to the health and well-being of transgender people,” they continued. “Leading professional medical organizations have endorsed gender-affirming hormone therapy…”
The senators emphasized that removing the barriers to testosterone access is in keeping with the Biden administration’s commitment to helping the trans community.
