Transsexual on hunger strike

[JamesHunt]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/n...re/8045268.stm

A transsexual from Nottinghamshire has warned she will end her life if she is refused hormone treatment on the NHS.

Debbie Davies, from Rainworth, is seven days into a hunger strike, and said she cannot afford to fund her treatment.

Ms Davies, who was born as Richard in 1966, has been living as a woman for the past 18 months.

Nottinghamshire County PCT has urged Debbie to stop the hunger strike and is currently reviewing its policy for patients who want to change gender.

Ms Davies wants a full surgical sex change but said she cannot afford to fund it privately.

"It is the only way I can get the message across to the PCT about how important this is to me," she said.

"By no means do I want to end my life - it's not a suicide attempt. I don't have a life if I don't do this, if I don't become complete - there is no life to live.

"It just feels like the onset of a cold at the moment, I get tired easily, I would kill for steak and chips."

Ms Davies, who used to work as a welder as Richard but now works as an IT consultant, said she has bought her own hormone pills online in the past but can no longer afford to keep up the treatment.

She said she had been prescribed a one-off supply of the hormone pills by her GP but this is due to run out this month.

'Consistent approach'

"I've paid £25,000 out of my own money and I haven't got anything else - the health authority have some responsibility to support and treat me," she added.

Amanda Sullivan, of Nottinghamshire County PCT, said: "We are sorry and concerned to hear Debbie is on hunger strike.

"We have offered to meet with Debbie and we would prefer to resolve this through communication.

"We've asked for a review across the whole of the East Midlands.

"We have a body of clinical experts who are reviewing in detail the way in which we treat people who want gender reassignment - we are keen to have a consistent approach."

Ms Sullivan said the outcome of the review is expected by the end of the month.

[tubgirl]

"I've paid £25,000 out of my own money and I haven't got anything else - the health authority have some responsibility to support and treat me," she added.


why?

[SarahG]

I am kinda confused, 25k pounds is like $50,000 US dollars.

How is it even possible to spend that much on JUST hrt?

Even if you were diy, and even if you were using abnormally high dosages of the most expensive stuff around- that's less than 5 USD a year.

[thx1138]

I hope she's "too big to fail." The british gov't is trillions in debt. Another 100k won't matter much.

[tstv_lover]

"I've paid £25,000 out of my own money and I haven't got anything else - the health authority have some responsibility to support and treat me," she added.


why?

Tubgirl - please get rid of that avatar...I'm feeling sick

As for the "why?" - interesting question. It comes down to what we consider to be reasonable level of social responsibility. Let's take 2 examples:

A. If someone had cronic heart problems or mental health issues then we would reasonably expect the health authority to pay costs of treatment.

B. If someone wanted to become a ballet dancer or artist then it wouldn't be reasonable.

The difference being that in the A the ailment is not of the persons making. In B it's a personal choice.

Following this reasoning, if a cross-dresser or transvestite wanted Government money - through allowances or other benefits - to buy feminine clothes for their personal use then that would not be reasonable - it's a personal choice. However, a transsexual who seeks SRS to help her transition is different. It's not her "fault" that she was born in a male body. She is seeking treatment for a condition over which she has no control and falls into category A.

Be interested to know what others think. The big issue for the health authority is not the 50,000 pounds or however much it costs, but the precedent and likely future costs.

[MacShreach]

"I've paid £25,000 out of my own money and I haven't got anything else - the health authority have some responsibility to support and treat me," she added.


why?

Tubgirl - please get rid of that avatar...I'm feeling sick

As for the "why?" - interesting question. It comes down to what we consider to be reasonable level of social responsibility. Let's take 2 examples:

A. If someone had cronic heart problems or mental health issues then we would reasonably expect the health authority to pay costs of treatment.

B. If someone wanted to become a ballet dancer or artist then it wouldn't be reasonable.

The difference being that in the A the ailment is not of the persons making. In B it's a personal choice.

Following this reasoning, if a cross-dresser or transvestite wanted Government money - through allowances or other benefits - to buy feminine clothes for their personal use then that would not be reasonable - it's a personal choice. However, a transsexual who seeks SRS to help her transition is different. It's not her "fault" that she was born in a male body. She is seeking treatment for a condition over which she has no control and falls into category A.

Be interested to know what others think. The big issue for the health authority is not the 50,000 pounds or however much it costs, but the precedent and likely future costs.

I agree with you on the part I've put in bold; the fact that very often this is NOT how the situation for transsexuals is seen, in that they are lumped in with crossdressers and transvestites, is hugely damaging and one reason why we absolutely MUST get away from the ridiculous "points on a scale" theory, or for that matter the "two types of TS" bullshit of Blanchard and Bailey.

Transsexualism is an innate, intersexed condition for which we do not yet know the specific cause, but which we do know how to treat successfully and relatively cheaply using hormones and GRS surgery. It is NOT THE SAME as CD/TV, nor are these "points on a scale of transition," no matter how many people wish they were.

In the UK, treatment of transsexuals is notoriously patchy. While there are national guidelines for England, Scotland and Wales (all different) these are interpreted by local Health authorities, trusts etc.. Some are very definitely better than others and it looks as if East Midlands is a bad one.

The situation was really thrown into the air a couple of years ago when Dr Russell Reid was hauled before the BMA on what were, frankly, trumped-up charges brought by a number of old-school psychiatrists acting in collusion with a transvestite man who claimed he had "wrongly" been operated on (despite the fact that he pursued GRS surgery for years, had persistently lied to care professionals and knew exactly what he was doing. Personal responsibility, anyone?)

Reid was discredited and had to retire from medicine. This has had a terrible effect: Reid took the view that the patients' wishes and desires were paramount and would put the minimum of difficulties in the way of someone seeking GRS; since then practitioners have erred on the side of caution. According to people who attend it, the Charing Cross Hospital clinic in London, the biggest clinic for the care of transsexuals in UK, is now so backlogged it can take over a year to get an initial appointment.

Local health authorities, boards, etc, are under pressure to save money, and if reactionary and benighted pycho-quacks can persuade them they can do so by "treating" transsexual patients with psychotherapy (read: waste more time and make more money), they may see this as an easy solution, since transsexual women, partly due to their association with CD/TV men, are perceived as having little public sympathy as well as being too few in number to cause embarrassment.

Looks like this lady proved them wrong on that last, at least.

[GroobySteven]

Well put Mac - I disagree with you on a lot but this was spot on.
However, given tubgirls history I don't think the "why" was why did she need help but "why we'd pay any money" in the USA, they'd have to pay for everything themselves.

[MacShreach]

Well put Mac - I disagree with you on a lot but this was spot on.
.

Thank you; if everyone agreed about everything, there would be no progress. I respect your ability to see the merit in disagreement and other points of view. But I am glad we agree on this.

[MacShreach]

given tubgirls history I don't think the "why" was why did she need help but "why we'd pay any money" in the USA, they'd have to pay for everything themselves.

Och, just put it down to my ongoing attempt to enlighten certain Americans to the fact that the world is not a fuzzy line encircling the USA.....

[T Oracle]

Is anyone aware of a general problem with Nottinghamshire PCT and treatment of TS? (Searched Internet and cannot find it if such exists).

The story at the moment seems to be one person who's unhappy with the PCT. Anyone aware of more?