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Sally Satel vs. transgender people

Sally Satel is an American psychiatrist and anti-transgender activist affiliated with the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute since 2000.

Background

Sally Louise Satel was born on January 9, 1956. Satel earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1977, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1982, and a medical degree from Brown University in 1984. Satel completed a residency in psychiatry at Yale University in 1993.

Satel has been involved in the opioid crisis, serving as Consulting Psychiatrist at the clinic for Partners in Drug Abuse Rehabilitation and Counseling in Washington, DC. Satel is also known for defending Purdue Pharma and taking money from JD Vance for a showy program in Vance’s hometown region. In 2016, Satel moderated a panel on opioids with Newt Gingrich, Van Jones, and Patrick Kennedy at the American Enterprise Institute.

After experiencing kidney failure, Satel has written about difficulties in finding a kidney donor.

Anti-trans activism

Satel is also associated with anti-trans group FAIR in Medicine. In 2023 Satel signed their petitions supporting fired anti-trans sexologist Kenneth Zucker and criticizing the American Psychiatric Association for publishing the book Gender-Affirming Psychiatric Care.

In 2025, Satel chaired a panel at the anti-trans Censorship in the Sciences conference titled Censorship Around Gender Research and Medicine. Panelists were anti-trans activist Carole Hooven, Diana Blum, J. Michael Bailey

References

Signatories (May 5, 2023). Open Letter in Support of Dr. Kenneth Zucker and the Need to Promote Robust Scientific Debate. FAIR in Medicine https://www.fairforall.org/open-letters/archives-of-sexual-behavior/

Signatories (December 28, 2023). Open Letter to the APA. FAIR in Medicine https://www.fairforall.org/open-letters/open-letter-apa/

Smyth, Julie Carr (August 18, 2022). Vance’s anti-drug charity enlisted doctor echoing Big Pharma. Associated Press https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-entertainment-health-175153d8a80d93b2c9c6654a6a730de9

Armstrong, David (November 19, 2019). Inside Purdue Pharma’s Media Playbook: How It Planted the Opioid “Anti-Story.” ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-purdue-pharma-media-playbook-how-it-planted-the-opioid-anti-story

Cha, Ariana Eunjung (October 24, 2016). Newt Gingrich is the new face of a controversial opioid addiction therapy. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/10/24/newt-gingrich-is-the-new-face-of-a-controversial-opioid-addiction-therapy/

Selected writing by Satel

Satel, Sally (February 13, 2024). A Textbook Case of Social Justice Medicine Run Amok. Washington Monthly https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/02/13/gender-affirming-care-a-textbook-case-of-social-justice-run-amok/

Satel, Sally (November 30, 2021). What is Happening to My Profession? Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/11/30/what-is-happening-to-my-profession/

Satel, Sally (November 30, 2021). Keep Social-Justice Indoctrination Out of the Therapist’s Office. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/05/07/keep-social-justice-indoctrination-out-of-the-therapists-office/

Satel, Sally (October 19, 2004). Doctors Behind Bars: Treating Pain Is Now Risky Business. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/health/policy/doctors-behind-bars-treating-pain-is-now-risky-business.html

Satel, Sally (February 19, 2010). Prescriptions for Psychiatric Trouble. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703525704575061851569968656

Satel, Sally (September 1998). The Patriarchy Made Me Do It. Women’s Freedom Network http://www.womensfreedom.org/artic552.htm [archive]

Satel, Sally (1987). Review of Waters and Ross Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 1987 Sep-Oct;60(5):497–498.

Books

  • Brainwashed – The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience (Basic, 2013) coauthored with Scott Lilienfeld
  • PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine (Basic Books, 2001)
  • The Health Disparities Myth (AEI Press, 2006)
  • When Altruism Isn’t Enough: The Case for Compensating Organ Donors (AEI Press, 2009)
  • One Nation under Therapy (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), coauthored with Christina Hoff Sommers

Resources

Sally Satel, MD (sallysatelmd.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

American Enterprise Institute (aei.org)

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (smhs.gwu.edu)

  • Sally Satel
  • apps.smhs.gwu.edu/smhs/facultydirectory/profile.cfm?empName=Sally%20Satel&FacID=2059036628

Quillette (quillette.com)

Yale School of Medicine (medicine.yale.edu)