Overview
- The Pentagon announced Wednesday that service members aged 30 and older will automatically receive annual testosterone-deficiency screening as part of periodic health assessments while troops under 30 can opt in.
- Hegseth framed the policy as a medical readiness step that aims to identify clinically low hormone levels and make testosterone replacement therapy available on a voluntary basis when a clinician recommends it.
- The department has not released key implementation details such as a start date, the testing method, clinical thresholds, whether female service members will be included, or who will pay for treatment.
- Medical authorities caution that routine population screening is controversial because testosterone levels vary by time of day and stress and diagnosis usually requires symptoms plus repeated morning blood tests for confirmation.
- The announcement follows wider federal moves that would broaden access to testosterone therapies and comes against a backdrop of Hegseth's force-shaping policies and past military probes into nonprescribed hormone use, raising questions about oversight, costs, and misuse risk.