A US Government agency is suing an influential transgender medicine organisation, alleging it misled the public about the “medical consensus and necessity” of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has already hit back, denying the allegations and accusing the Trump administration of “abusing the authority of its agencies”.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and four US states — Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas — filed the lawsuit last week, alleging that WPATH made 10 “deceptive” statements in its Standards of Care guidelines, which inform transgender healthcare globally, including in Australia.

In the complaint, the FTC accuses WPATH of widening eligibility for gender-affirming surgeries “in order to profit its members” by omitting “any mention” of minimum age limits for almost all gender-affirming surgeries in its newest guidelines from 2022.