President Donald Trump with members of military at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, March 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The bizarre new announcement out of President Donald Trump's Pentagon has effectively "kicked a hornet's nest," according to a new report from The Hill, with experts expressing grave concern about the lack of scientific backing and the dangers the new policy could create.
This week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new policy whereby all military officers 30 and older would be required to submit to screenings of their testosterone levels, and any found to have a deficiency would be required to undergo hormone replacement therapy to correct the supposed issue. The policy, met with widespread confusion and mockery, fits the secretary's longstanding insistence that the military's shortcomings could be fixed with a greater focus on masculinity.
The scientific community, however, is not at all convinced by the idea. In a report published Sunday, The Hill spoke with experts who warned that Hegseth's rationale for the policy lacks sufficient scientific evidence and warned that trying to influence testosterone levels in military officers could lead to dire side effects.
"Hegseth argues the effort, to become part of the military’s periodic health assessment for troops over 30, will ensure the optimal performance and long-term health of warfighters," The Hill explained. "But medical experts say Hegseth’s rationale for the directive isn’t backed by science, warning of overdiagnosis and warning of side effects like heart problems and infertility. Coming amid the broader embrace of the hormone among White House officials, the move plays into Hegseth’s focus on appearances and masculinity, which one Democrat said this week borders on 'homoeroticism.'”
Speaking with the outlet, Derek Griffith, the director of the program for research on men’s health at the University of Pennsylvania, stressed that low testosterone is far from a common issue, noting that only around 2 percent of the male population is impacted by it. Given that the military is already staffed by "a group of relatively younger, fitter men and women," Griffith doubted that low testosterone would be anything close to a "major issue" there. He also noted that things like "heart disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, depression and alcohol abuse" were the actual major causes of health issues in men that the military ought to focus on.
“I don’t fully understand,” he said of the new screening guidelines. “I don’t know what they’re seeing or what data they’re using to say ‘this is where we need to really focus and put our energy.'"
He added: “It’s not what’s usually a major issue for healthy men. I imagine for most active-duty military, they’re pretty much at a healthy weight. So I would be curious what percentage they’re expecting to identify who have low testosterone and would be in need of a treatment.”
Adriane Fugh-Berman, a professor in the department of pharmacology and physiology at Georgetown University, warned of the side effects that increased testosterone doses could carry.
"Testosterone even in low doses increases heart problems, kidney problems, infertility and fractures, which hardly seems like a good way to keep soldiers in fighting form," Fugh-Berman said. Hegseth’s remarks seem to imply that testosterone increases longevity, and there is no evidence for that. It shrinks testicles, too. How manly is that? It’s ridiculous to screen a population for a questionable condition which has a treatment with unproven benefits and proven risk.”
Brooke Nickel, a public health researcher in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, also expressed worry about "Young, healthy men are being told that common experiences like tiredness, stress or changes in libido are signs that something is medically wrong and that testosterone is the solution."