US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to begin mandatory testosterone deficiency screening for all active duty and reserve personnel aged 30 and over, with younger service members able to request testing too. Hegseth framed the policy as a way to "optimise" performance, resilience and long-term health, insisting it was not about "artificial enhancement" and that troops could decline treatment. However, endocrinologists have criticised the move, warning it risks unnecessary testing, misdiagnosis and inappropriate prescribing of testosterone across a largely healthy population.

The Endocrine Society has issued a statement saying there is insufficient evidence to justify population-level testosterone screening in men without symptoms. Professor Bradley Anawalt of the University of Washington Medical Center said genuine hypogonadism caused by conditions such as Klinefelter syndrome or pituitary problems is rare, affecting at most around 1% of men, while many other factors that lower testosterone — including obesity, stress, sleep deprivation, medication use and normal ageing — would not warrant hormone replacement therapy. Screenings are to be carried out as part of annual health assessments.