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Fortunately, thanks to an investigation by journalist Jesse Singal of “Science of Us” (nymag.com/scienceofus/), the false allegation was exposed. Singal contacted “Adam” and discovered the incident had happened at another clinic and that the remarks attributed to Zucker had, in fact, absolutely nothing to do with him. The misattribution of those remarks to Zucker in the external review has now been acknowledged, and CAMH has taken the review off their website and publicly apologized.

Why the lead authors of the review, psychiatrists Dr. Suzanne Zinck and Dr. Antonio Pigniatello, failed to fact-check such an outlandish and potentially ruinous accusation is shocking in itself, and does nothing to dispel the notion that the fix was already in for Zucker, and the external review a purely token gesture.

I spoke with now-retired psychiatrist Dr. Susan Bradley, who founded the GIC in 1975. She considers the review “unprofessional.” Doctors Zinck and Pigniatello, neither of whom has an academic track record or clinical experience in gender dysphoria, Bradley says, failed to heavily rely on the academic literature of those who are recognized experts. Bradley told me further that Zucker had given them the names of eight experts in the field, but they consulted none of them. Moreover, they did not consult the American Psychiatric Association or the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, who between them have amassed all the relevant research in the field. They did, however, consult a trans advocacy organization which is opposed to the GIC philosophy.