National Organization of Short Statured Adults - HGH Controversy

HGH Controversy

In 2003, The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of human growth hormone (hGH) for children well below the average height with no medically determined cause, also known as idiopathic short stature. GH therapy had been prescribed previously for only medically determined causes of reduced height. Most patients to which this therapy was now made available produce normal levels of growth hormone on their own. Some other biological cause(s) still place these children more than 2 standard deviations below average height.

NOSSA announced its opposition to the use of human growth hormone for short, but otherwise healthy, children. The organization believes being short isn’t a problem; the real difficulties lies in the social bias against short people. In part to define the organization's position on the matter, NOSSA representative and author Ellen Frankel LCSW stated, "What we need is education for those who discriminate against short people, not the genetic engineering of the victims of that prejudice." Frankel states, "The growth hormone deficient child suffers from an underlying medical problem that affects the body's health in different ways. The non-growth-hormone-deficient child has no underlying medical problem. They simply present as a variation on the norm with regard to height. The decision to medically intervene on the healthy child's stature is socially based due to height discrimination and prejudice."